---
title: "Creating an Optimization Profile"
slug: "creating-an-optimization-profile"
updated: 2026-10-21T11:08:31Z
published: 2026-10-21T11:08:31Z
canonical: "resources.realtheory.io/creating-an-optimization-profile"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://resources.realtheory.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating an Optimization Profile

Optimization profiles allow you to specify the upper and lower limits of acceptable CPU and memory usage to reflect the intended optimization strategy for the workloads using the profile. RealTheory uses this information to provide recommendations that align with your goals—whether that's improving efficiency, supporting performance, or balancing both—without compromising the workload's ability to perform as needed.

By defining how resource usage should be interpreted in context, profiles help RealTheory tailor its recommendations to match the role and criticality of each workload.

See [Optimization Profiles Explained](/v1/docs/optimization-profiles-explained) for more information about optimization profiles.

## Prerequisite

To manage optimization profiles, you must have one of the following roles assigned to your user account:

- *sys_admin*
- *optimization_admin*

## Procedure

1. As a user with either the *sys_admin* or *optimization_admin* role, navigate to **Settings** > **Optimization** > **Optimization Profiles**.
2. Click **Create New**.
3. Provide a unique name for the profile.
4. Add a description that will help you remember the purpose and scope of the profile.
5. In **Optimization Strategy**, select one of the following:

| Profile | Description | Example Use Case |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Performance Optimized | Recommends configurations that not only satisfy compute demands but also include additional overhead to absorb unexpected surges. | A high-traffic API service that must respond quickly, even under variable load. |
| Balanced | Recommends configurations that satisfy compute demands while strategically moderating resource allocation between performance and cost. | Workloads that experience regular demand with moderate peaks, such as a batch processing workload |
| Cost Optimized | Recommends configurations that satisfy compute demands while minimizing over-provisioning. | A dev or staging environment where resource efficiency matters more than performance. |
6. In the **Optimal Compute** section, set the upper and lower limits for acceptable CPU and memory usage for the chosen strategy.
7. Do one of the following:
  - If you are directly assigning the new profile to the appropriate clusters, click **Save and Assign**. Go to Step 8.
  - If you are using optimization policies to assign profiles to the appropriate clusters, click **Save** and then go to **Settings** > **Optimization** > **Optimization Policies** to verify that you have an optimization policy that applies this profile to the appropriate cluster(s).
8. In the **Directly assign optimization profile to clusters** view, select the clusters that should use the new profile.
9. Click **Update**. The new profile will be assigned to the selected clusters.

**See Also** [Optimization Profiles Explained](/v1/docs/optimization-profiles-explained) [Creating an Optimization Policy](/v1/docs/creating-an-optimization-policy)