How can you determine the running costs of multiple production systems on Compute Engine within a GCP project?

Using labels to categorize and track costs for Compute Engine instances is an effective strategy, which is why assigning all instances a label specific to a system enables clearer cost reporting and analysis.

Labels are key-value pairs that can be attached to GCP resources, including virtual machines (VMs). When you apply a specific label to instances related to a particular production system, you can then use Google's built-in cost management features to filter and aggregate the costs associated with those instances. This allows for a more granular analysis that can help you understand how much each system is contributing to the overall costs in your project.

This method is advantageous because it provides an organized way to view expenses by system without complex configurations. You can easily generate reports or insights based on these labels within the GCP Console, making it straightforward to maintain an overview of your financial commitments across multiple production systems.

The other options, while they might provide some level of tracking, don't offer the same granularity or clarity. For instance, relying solely on the Cost Breakdown section may not provide insights at the system level unless you have explicitly defined such costs using labels. Using metadata or naming conventions for VMs could help track costs informally, but these methods aren't as systematic or scalable as using labels for cost management purposes