EBS Cost Control - Guide To Locating *Actual* EBS Costs

It happens to the best Cloud professionals when managing Cloud costs. It's difficult to track costs and specifically storage, as it's very technical and difficult to understand on AWS.

One of these costs comes from Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elastic Block Store (EBS). Below is a quick guide that will help you identify these costs and provide strategies to optimize your spending using the AWS Cost Explorer. If you just want to start saving 50% on your EBS bill reach out to us - we’ll hook you up! :)

Understanding EBS Costs

EBS costs are complex, comprising multiple components that vary based on your usage and storage needs. Here's a breakdown of the primary cost factors:

1. Capacity Costs: EBS volumes are priced per GiB per month. Pricing varies by the type of EBS volume - io1/io2 are the priciest, followed by gp2, gp3, and finally st1 and sc1 (Prices as of June 2024):

2. IOPS and Bandwidth Costs: Some EBS volumes, like io1 and io2, charge for provisioned IOPS (Input/Output Operations per Second) in addition to capacity. For gp3 volumes, you get a baseline of 3,000 IOPS for free, but you can pay extra for more IOPS (up to 16,000) or bandwidth if needed (the free bandwidth is 125MiB/s, and you can pay extra up to 1,000MiB/s).

‍

3. Snapshot Costs: When managing snapshot costs, you need to choose between the standard and archive tiers in Amazon S3. The standard tier is more expensive but offers free and fast retrieval for creating volumes from snapshots. The archive tier is cheaper, but retrieval is slow and incurs additional costs.

If you plan to create volumes from snapshots, avoid the archive tier. It stores entire snapshots, not just the changes, making it unsuitable for frequent snapshots like daily backups. For these cases, the standard tier is more efficient and cost-effective.

AWS also offers Fast Snapshot Restore and EBS Direct APIs, which can improve snapshot performance but may incur additional costs. When optimizing expenses, consider whether the performance benefits of these features justify their extra cost in its specific use case.

‍

4. Regional Costs: EBS costs vary by AWS region due to different AWS operational costs, demand and supply, local regulations, and economic conditions. For example, as of June 2024:

• US East (N. Virginia): General Purpose SSD (gp3) might cost around $0.08 per GB-month.
• Asia Pacific (Sydney): General Purpose SSD (gp3) could cost approximately $0.085 per GB-month.
• South America (São Paulo): General Purpose SSD (gp3) could cost approximately $0.12 per GB-month

Understanding these regional differences can help you make more informed decisions about where to deploy your resources, potentially leading to cost savings.


Tired of unpredictable EBS costs? Book a personalized demo with Datafy to see how we can cut your cloud storage expenses by up to 50%.
‍

Navigating AWS Cost Explorer

AWS Cost Explorer is a powerful tool that can help you manage your EBS costs effectively. However, one challenge is that EBS costs are hard to find as they are under the "EC2-Other" cost category. To uncover and understand these expenses, follow these steps:

1. Access AWS Cost Explorer: Log in to your AWS Management Console and navigate to the Cost Explorer dashboard (in the “search” field at the top left, type in “Cost Explorer”, it will show up under “Features”)

2. Filter by EBS Costs: Use filters to drill down into your EBS expenses. First, in the filters on the right, switch "Dimension" to "Usage type". Next, in the bottom search field, enter "EBS" to filter for EBS-related usage types.

3. Break Down Costs: Separate the costs by different categories such as capacity, IOPS, and snapshots. This will give you a clearer picture of where your money is going. Common EBS-related usage types include: EBS:VolumeUsage.gp2, EBS:VolumeUsage.io1, EBS:VolumeUsage.io2, EBS:VolumeUsage.sc1, EBS:VolumeUsage.st1, EBS:SnapshotUsage, EBS:VolumeP-IOPS.piops (for provisioned IOPS costs)

4. Identify Non-EBS Costs: Be aware of other costs that might be included in the EBS category, such as RDS (Relational Database Service) volumes or EC2 instances marked as EBS-Optimized. The term "EBS-Optimized" is a misnomer, as it refers to certain EC2 instances and not directly to EBS costs. Exclude these to get an accurate view of your EBS expenses.

5. Consider Regional Costs: To view how different AWS regions impact your costs, use the "Region" filter in AWS Cost Explorer. This filter allows you to break down your EBS expenses by region, helping you identify which regions are more cost-effective for your storage needs​

Tips to Optimize Your EBS Costs

Managing EBS costs is not just about identifying them; it's also about optimizing them. Here are some practical tips to help you save on EBS expenses:

• Use the Right Volume Type: For most applications, gp3 volumes provide a good balance of performance and cost. Evaluate your needs and choose the most appropriate volume type.
• Right-Size Your IOPS: Monitor your IOPS utilization using CloudWatch Metrics. Provision only the IOPS you need to avoid unnecessary expenses.
• Delete Unattached Volumes: Regularly review your volumes and delete any that are not attached to an instance. Alternatively, create snapshots of these volumes before deletion to save on storage costs.
• Archive Snapshots: Move snapshots of inactive volumes to the archive tier to save costs. Be wise with this approach, as retrieval from the archive tier is slower and more expensive.
• Choosing AWS Regions: When setting up new EBS volumes, you can choose the region during the configuration process. In the AWS Management Console, navigate to the EC2 dashboard, and under the "Elastic Block Store" section, select "Volumes." When you create a new volume, you will see an option to select the region. Choosing the right region based on your cost analysis can lead to significant savings​.

So what’s next?

To make the most out of your EBS investments and avoid common pitfalls, follow the outlined best practices: choose the right volume type, right-size your IOPS, and manage snapshots efficiently. This will help you regain control of your EBS costs and improve your overall cloud storage strategy.

Ready to take control of your EBS costs? Schedule a meeting with our experts today and discover how Datafy can help you start saving immediately.