Everything You Need to Know about AWS EBS and EBS Snapshot Pricing
Tags: ebs, aws
Published: 2020-06-14 15:59:51

Amazon has changed the way companies of all sizes build and consume their IT environments. Elastic Block Storage (EBS) snapshots are a fundamental feature that helps enterprises back up data stored on AWS. However, organizations are still struggling to overcome the confusion over costs. 

EBS cost management is complicated. You need to use the right type of volume, store your data effectively, and regularly look for unused EBS volumes. It is a lot to tackle. This post can help you figure out how to use your EBS volumes and manage snapshot pricing.

## What Are AWS EBS Snapshots?
Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Storage) provides reliable block storage for EC2 instances. One very useful function of Amazon EBS is creating snapshots of EBS volumes. AWS EBS snapshots are typically used to provide point-in-time backup up of data stored on EBS. Each snapshot includes all the information required to restore the data from the moment of creating the EBS snapshot.

## Why Is It Important to Understand the EBS Pricing Models?
Amazon EBS pricing depends on three factors: storage volume, snapshots, and the amount of data transferred out of your application. When copying EBS snapshots across regions, AWS charges you based on the amount of data transferred. 

For the first EBS snapshot, Amazon saves a full copy of your data to S3 storage. For each incremental EBS snapshot, only the changed part of your volume is saved. After the EBS snapshot is copied to another region, standard snapshot fees apply for the destination region.

This is why a good understanding of the EBS pricing models can help you achieve a cost-efficient [snapshots mechanism](https://cloud.netapp.com/blog/azure-aws-snapshots-explained). Let’s explore the different functions and models affecting the costs of EBS snapshots.

**Snapshots are incremental backups**
The incremental functionality of EBS snapshots allows you to store only the changes from the last snapshot. In order to restore a volume you need to retain only the most recent snapshot.

**Copying and sharing snapshots**
A snapshot that is available in one region will not be available in another region, since snapshots are region-specific in nature. If you want to make a snapshot available in another region, you have to manually copy it across regions. As a result, AWS will charge you for data transfer fees and your EBS storage costs will change.

**Snapshot encryption**
AWS provides an option to encrypt snapshots. Copying an encrypted snapshot requires a full backup of the volume, as opposed to the incremental backup of non-encrypted snapshots. This will result in larger snapshot sizes that lead to high data transfer and storage costs.

**Types of EBS volumes**
AWS provides different types of EBS volumes. Each EBS volume type has a different pricing model calculation. However, snapshot pricing depends only on the storage and data transfer cost. Therefore, EBS volume types do not affect snapshot pricing. For example, let’s say you have 2 snapshots of 100GB each. One is a general-purpose SSDs volume and the other is a provisioned IOPS SSDs. Both snapshot should incur the same price even though the underlying volume types are different.

## Pricing Models for EBS Volumes and EBS Snapshots
AWS EBS pricing depends on different factors, such as the volume type, the region, data transfer cost across regions, and more. Various factors and options for EBS pricing make it difficult to calculate the cost of EBS snapshots. 
The table below shows the total cost per month of 1000 GB EBS snapshot storage with the EC2 service in different regions.

|**Type of Volume**   |**AWS Region** |**Total Snapshot Cost in $**|
|-------------------  |---------------|----------------------------|
|General Purpose SSDs |Europe         |50                          |
|Provisioned IOPS SSDs  |Europe       |50                          |
|Throughput Optimized SSD|Europe      |50                          |
|General Purpose SSDs|Ohio            |50                          |
|Provisioned IOPS SSDs|Ohio           |50                          |
|Throughput Optimized SSD|Ohio        |50                          | 

As the table describes, the EBS snapshot cost does not depend on the region and EBS volume type. Snapshot costs depends only on data transfer fees and the size of snapshot. Generally, the snapshot size is smaller compared to its EBS volume, since some data blocks in the EBS volume are empty.

**General Purpose SSDs EBS volume type**
In East US (Ohio), AWS charges $0.10 per GB-month until you release the storage. Input/output operations per second (IOPS) are included in the price.

**Provisioned IOPS SSDs EBS volume type**
In East US (Ohio), AWS charges $0.125 per GB-month for storage and $0.065 per provisioned IOPS-month. IOPS are not included in the price of the volume. 

**Throughput Optimized HDD EBS volume type**
In East US (Ohio), AWS charges $0.045 per GB-month until you release the storage. IOPS are included in the price. 

**Cold HDD EBS volume type**
In East US (Ohio), AWS charges $0.025 Per GB-month until you release the storage. IOPS are included in the price of the volume.
## Comparing EBS Costs for Different Volume Types
The following example is a cost calculation of 2000 GB EBS volume for 12 hours usage in a 30 days period, in the Ohio region. Detailed calculations can be found on the official Amazon EBS Pricing page.


|**Type Of Volume**                |**Cost in $**|        
|**General Purpose SSDs**          |         3.33|
|**Provisioned IOPS SSDs**         |         5.25|
|**Throughput Optimized HDD*       |         1.5 |
|**Cold HDD**                      |         0.83|

## EBS Volume and EBS Snapshot Pricing Calculators
AWS provides a Simple Monthly Calculator for calculating the price of EBS volumes and Snapshots. The calculator uses different inputs, including storage volumes, region, number of EC2 instances, data transfers in and out, load balancing and chosen billing methods.

The calculator lets you download a CSV file with a detailed monthly bill estimation. The monthly estimation includes expandable lines showing the cost for each part of distinct AWS services. By switching tabs, you can change between cost calculations for different AWS services, like S3, EC2 and Redshift. 
## Wrap Up
Adopting [cloud services](https://www.datamation.com/cloud-computing/top-managed-services-providers.html) is not just a technical evolution. It also requires a change in how organizations operate. Cloud computing prices are closely tied to efficient usage of infrastructure resources. Therefore, organizations can benefit from understanding and optimizing EBS pricing. Efficient cloud storage cost management allows you to scale and grow without worrying about costs.