Often Unused AWS Resources Can Be Shut Down to Save Costs
Naturally, you want to make sure that your AWS usage is as cost effective as it can be. Of course, you might have noticed that your bill is somewhat higher than you think it should be. You might wonder why it’s higher and what you can do about it. While there are many ways that you can reduce your AWS bill, one of the most effective and simplest tends to be simply shutting down your unused AWS resources.
There are more than 70 AWS, and there is a chance that you have some services or even instances that are up and running that you don’t need right now. By monitoring those services, you can get a better idea of what you are using and what’s being wasted. Once you have a better idea of how it’s running and where the waste is happening, you can simply shut down those resources. Even if you only find one or two resources that can be shut down, it has the potential to help you save on each of your bills.
What Services Are Running?
At any given time, you could have a number of different services that are running on your AWS that you are not using. The most common type of unused resources that you will find are those that are in the area of development, testing, and staging environments. People in the company might start working on something and leave it up and running when they aren’t using it. It becomes very important for you to make sure that everyone on your team, including yourself, understands how important it is to shut down services not being used. These unused resources can cost far more than you might realize.
Unused Reserved Instances
If you have these instances that are not being used right now, there is a good chance that you could lose them. If you don’t need them, then you might want to consider selling them to reduce the loss to you.
Finding the Unused Resources
Fortunately, there are a number of different tools available that can help you to locate waste and resources that are not being used, and that can help you monitor all of your AWS. Some of the tools to consider include CloudWatch, CloudHealth, and Botmetric. They can show you where the waste is coming from, so you can shut it down.
Be Proactive
If you aren’t taking action and actively looking for waste in your resources, no one is going to do if for you. Make it a point to regularly monitor your system to find instances of unused AWS resources. By making it policy to monitor, and to turn off resources whenever they are not being used, such as after hours or on the weekend, you can start to see some additional savings in your bills. It will be well worth the time and effort that you put into the monitoring.