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Your Amazon Web Services storage expenses can quickly spiral out of control if not managed carefully. Many companies find that their AWS storage costs take up a large part of their cloud budget. This guide will show you how to lower your EBS cost with proven results.

Understanding AWS EBS Pricing Structure

Your EBS costs come from three main components. The EBS pricing model charges for reserved space, not just what you use. Knowing each part helps you control your budget better.

Volume-Based Pricing Components

Volume storage costs are the base of your EBS expenses. You’re billed for every gigabyte you reserve each month. For instance, a 100 GB gp3 volume costs $8.00 monthly, even if you only use 20 GB.

Different types of volumes have different prices per gigabyte. SSD volumes cost more than others because they provide better performance. The cost remains the same each month, making it easy to predict your bill.

IOPS and Throughput Costs

IOPS pricing applies when you need more performance than the standard. gp3 volumes come with 3,000 IOPS and 125 MB/s throughput at no extra charge. However, if you require additional performance, you’ll be billed extra. For gp3 volumes, additional IOPS cost $0.005 per IOPS per month, and throughput costs $0.04 per MB/s per month. These costs can add up quickly with high-performance needs.

Source: Amazon EBS Pricing “Volume pricing (per GB-month)” table (accessed Sep 6, 2025).

Snapshot Storage Fees

Snapshot storage fees accumulate based on data changes stored in Amazon S3. The first snapshot currently costs $0.05 per GB-month in most regions. Snapshot storage costs can quickly increase without proper management. 

Companies often have many snapshots, resulting in high bills. Manage snapshot costs with lifecycle policies that delete old snapshots. Replicating snapshots across regions doubles the cost. Regular audits help identify and eliminate unnecessary backups, saving money.

1. Choosing the Right EBS Volume Types for Cost Savings

Different workloads require different storage solutions. Selecting the appropriate EBS volume type can save a significant amount of money. AWS offers five volume types, each with its own performance and cost.

General Purpose SSD (gp3) vs General Purpose SSD (gp2)

The gp3 versus gp2 comparison shows significant cost savings for most workloads. GP3 volumes are more affordable and provide greater flexibility and performance.

GP3 costs $0.08 per GB-month. You can set IOPS and throughput separately from storage size. This means you only pay for what you use.

GP2 costs $0.10 per GB-month. IOPS are connected to volume size at a 3-to-1 ratio. This can result in wasted capacity costs. GP2 also uses burst credits for additional performance.

Source: Amazon EBS Pricing (accessed Sep 6, 2025).

When to Use Provisioned IOPS SSD

Provisioned IOPS SSD volumes (io1 and io2) are worth the extra cost for certain applications. They require guaranteed performance levels and low latency. This makes them suitable for critical databases and high-performance computing. IO2 volumes are more reliable (99.999%) than io1 (99.9%) and provide more IOPS per GB. They are priced higher than general-purpose options at $0.125 per GB-month plus $0.065 per IOPS.

Choose Provisioned IOPS SSD for workloads requiring over 16,000 IOPS or where predictability is critical. Databases like Oracle, MySQL, or PostgreSQL with high transaction volumes benefit from this. Avoid Provisioned IOPS for development, file servers, or applications with fluctuating performance needs. These can perform well on GP3 volumes.

Cold HDD and Throughput Optimized HDD Use Cases

HDD-based EBS volume types are the most affordable option for workloads requiring higher throughput than IOPS. They can reduce storage costs by up to 85% when used appropriately. Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) volumes cost $0.045 per GB-month and are ideal for sequential operations, making them perfect for big data analytics and log processing.

Cold HDD (sc1) volumes are the cheapest at $0.015 per GB-month but have limited performance. Use sc1 for infrequent data access, backups, and archives where cost is the main concern.

• ST1 ideal scenarios: MapReduce workloads, distributed file systems, data warehouse applications
• SC1 perfect fits: File servers, backup targets, disaster recovery storage
• Avoid HDD for: Boot volumes, databases requiring high IOPS, real-time applications

2. Implementing Effective EBS Snapshot Management

Smart snapshot management turns backup expenses into a smart investment in data safety. By applying automated policies and regular cleanups, you can keep your backups reliable while reducing storage costs. EBS snapshots store data in Amazon S3, only adding space for changed blocks. Without proper management, these backups can become very costly. Effective snapshot management involves balancing data security with cost savings.

Snapshot Lifecycle Policies

EBS lifecycle policies automate snapshot creation, retention, and deletion based on your needs. You can set up policies to take snapshots at regular intervals and delete them after a specified time. This way, you don’t have to monitor them manually, but you still maintain consistent backups.

Cross-Region Snapshot Optimization

Cross-region snapshot copying is useful for disaster recovery but increases data transfer costs. You should choose which snapshots to copy across regions and which can remain local. Automate cross-region cleanup to prevent snapshots from getting stuck in multiple regions, helping you reduce extra storage costs in your AWS regions.

Deleting Unnecessary Snapshots

Regularly review your snapshots to identify those that can be deleted, such as from terminated instances or expired backups. Deleting unnecessary snapshots helps reduce costs immediately.

Ensure your snapshot retention policies align with your recovery requirements and legal obligations. Many find they can safely shorten retention periods without sacrificing data protection. Regularly revisit your policies to keep snapshot management affordable as your business expands.

3. Optimizing IOPS and Throughput Provisioning

Enhancing EBS performance involves carefully analyzing IOPS and throughput. Many teams overspend by preparing for the worst case. Achieving the right balance can make your EBS costs more adaptable and economical.

Baseline vs Burst Performance Analysis

Understanding the difference between baseline and burst performance is essential. gp3 volumes provide 3,000 baseline IOPS and 125 MB/s throughput, which is ideal for consistent workloads with no extra costs. Burst performance allows volumes to exceed the baseline temporarily, but it isn’t suitable for sustained workloads. Applications might slow down once burst credits are exhausted.

GP3 Independent IOPS and Throughput Tuning

gp3 volumes allow you to set IOPS and throughput independently. This lets you optimize performance without wasting storage space. Unlike older volume types that link storage size to performance, gp3 offers up to 16,000 IOPS and 1,000 MB/s throughput. Pricing is based on baseline storage, additional IOPS, and extra throughput, enabling you to match performance precisely to your workload.

Source: Amazon EBS Volume Type (accessed September 2025)

4. Leveraging EBS Multi-Attach for Shared Storage

EBS Multi-Attach changes the way you manage shared storage across multiple EC2 instances. It allows up to 16 instances to use the same volume simultaneously. This can significantly reduce storage costs by eliminating the need for duplicate volumes. Previously, you needed a separate volume for each instance. EBS Multi-Attach breaks this rule by enabling many instances to share a single volume. Your applications can share data easily without copying files or spending a lot on storage.

5. Migrating Cold Data to Lower-Cost Storage Classes

Moving cold data from EBS to Amazon S3 can significantly reduce costs. This approach allows you to manage infrequently used data while keeping it accessible when needed.

The cost difference between EBS and S3 storage is significant. EBS gp2 volumes cost $0.10 per GB-month, while S3 Standard begins at $0.023 per GB-month, making it 77% more affordable. This large price gap emphasizes the importance of transferring data efficiently to save money, especially with large data volumes.

Take Control of Your AWS Storage Costs

Managing EBS cost can feel overwhelming, especially with underutilized volumes, runaway snapshots, and hidden performance costs. Elite Cloud can help you identify wasted spend and optimize your AWS storage strategy without risking performance or data reliability. 

Start with a free cost assessment, where our experts analyze your current environment and find immediate savings opportunities. Contact Elite Cloud today and turn cloud cost complexity into measurable savings.

Golam Rabbany

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