Reserved Instances: While offering a significant discount compared to On-Demand Instances, they require a one-year or three-year commitment and upfront payment. This might not be ideal for workloads with variable demand or short durations like the given simulations.
Spot Instances: These offer the potential for significant cost savings compared to On-Demand Instances, with prices fluctuating based on supply and demand. They are well-suited for stateless, fault-tolerant workloads like the company's simulations, as they can be automatically terminated and restarted on price spikes without impacting the overall execution.
On-Demand Instances: These provide predictable pricing but are the most expensive option. Given the cost optimization goal and stateless nature of the simulations, Spot Instances offer a better cost-performance trade-off.
Dedicated Instances: Similar to Reserved Instances, these come with an upfront commitment and fixed payments, making them less flexible for workloads with variable demand like the simulations.