Amazon RDS pricing and optimization guide

Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) might be your first choice if you are considering hosting your database in the cloud. With RDS, operating a relational database in the cloud becomes a walk in the park, since it doesn't require upfront hardware investments or ongoing maintenance. RDS also takes care of time-consuming tasks such as backups, software patching, and monitoring, allowing you to focus on your business.

However, while RDS offers many benefits, businesses must be aware of its associated costs, especially since as your database grows, so can your RDS bill.

Want to optimize your RDS spend without sacrificing performance or functionality? This guide takes you through Amazon RDS pricing and optimization.

What is Amazon RDS?

This web service streamlines the deployment of relational databases to AWS by offering cost- effective and adjustable capacity. It also automatically handles labor-intensive administrative duties, including hardware allocation, database configuration, updates, and data backups. It additionally supports the Amazon Aurora, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle Database, and Microsoft SQL Server database engines.

RDS makes it easy to migrate your existing on-premises applications to AWS or develop new cloud-native applications. It provides high availability and durability by automatically replicating data to multiple availability zones.

Since RDS is tightly integrated with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), it comes with an out-of-the-box feature to control access at a granular level.

The service allows developers to concentrate on creating applications while AWS handles the heavy lifting of database management.

The importance of cost optimization

If you're looking to maximize your resources, prioritizing cost optimization for Amazon RDS is key. You are billed for instances left idling, even when no work is being done. This wastes valuable resources that could be spent on more critical tasks. By optimizing costs and freeing up those resources, you can drive growth via more productive tasks and boost your bottom line.

Unfortunately, many organizations leave money on the table by running AWS with its default configurations. Whether due to a lack of resources or lack of expertise, this can lead to missed opportunities. In today's competitive business landscape, cost optimization is more vital than ever, and companies that fail to prioritize it risk falling behind their competitors.

AWS RDS pricing

AWS RDS pricing is based on various factors, such as the number of database instances, the type of instance, storage size, and data transfer.

The primary cost factors for open-source database engines running on RDS (e.g., MySQL, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL) are the instance type and size you choose, as well as how long each instance will run. On-demand instances are billed hourly with no upfront costs, while reserved instances come at a discount if you commit to using them upfront for one or three years.

There are also storage costs for the current data, backups, and snapshot exports. Each is billed per GiB per month but at different rates. The destination of data when transferred comes into play here, with varying rates for transfers depending on whether they are within the same region or across regions.

For Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server, you must also pay their respective license costs, although you can bring your own licenses as well.

The Amazon Aurora database engine comes with its own instance pricing and serverless pricing models that scale up and down automatically. You can also use it seamlessly with MySQL and PostgreSQL.

Take this example from AWS, using its Pricing Calculator. First, you have the input for the calculator, followed by the actual calculations it executes on that input:

• PostgreSQL as a database engine
• 3 db.m4.large instances on-demand pricing
• 75% utilization per month
• 100 GB General Purpose Database Storage
• 1 TB Backup Storage
• 1 TB Snapshot Export Storage (S3)

  3 instances 
x 0.364 USD per hour 
x 548 hours per month 
= 597.87 USD per month for instances 


  100 GB per month 
x 0.23 USD 
x 3 instances 
= 69.00 USD for database storage 


  1,000 TB 
x 0.095 USD 
= 95.00 USD for backup storage 


  1,000 GB 
x 0.01 USD 
= 10.00 USD for snapshot storage 


  597.87 USD per month for instances 
+ 69.00 USD for database storage 
+ 95.00 USD for backup storage 
= 771.87 USD total per month 

Cost optimization for RDS

To utilize your database to the fullest, consider the following optimization strategies.

Rightsize RDS instances

Making sure you have the right EC2 instance size and type for your workload is critical. If you are using oversized instances, this can result in unnecessary spending; undersized instances, however, can lead to performance degradation. Use Amazon RDS Performance Insights to monitor your usage and make informed decisions on instance size.

Implement EC2 autoscaling

EC2 autoscaling makes things much easier by automatically adjusting the number of RDS instances to match traffic. When traffic increases, it initiates more read replicas for your application to ensure smooth performance, making it a reliable solution for handling traffic spikes. When traffic subsides, additional instances are shut down seamlessly, so you don’t pay for idle time.

Choose the best storage options

Amazon RDS offers three choices for storage: General Purpose SSD, Provisioned IOPS SSD, and magnetic.

General Purpose SSD is a good option if you have a workload with a mixture of read and write operations. It's also suitable if you have a small database and don't need a lot of I/O performance, for example, if you're running a small blog or website.

Provisioned IOPS SSD might be better if you have a workload requiring high I/O performance. This option allows you to provide a specific amount of IOPS for your database, which can be crucial for workloads that require extensive data processing, for example, an e-commerce site with high-volume transactions.

Finally, if you have a workload that infrequently accesses data, magnetic storage might be the most cost-effective choice. This option is slower than the other two, but it's also the least expensive. If you're running a development or testing environment or have a rarely accessed database, this can be the most suitable.

Use Reserved Instances and EC2 Savings Plans

Reserved Instances and EC2 Savings Plans are your go-to options to save on your Amazon RDS costs. These plans offer discounts of up to 75% when you commit to a specific instance usage over one to three years.

Reserved Instances let you pay a discounted hourly rate via a one-time payment upfront. With a larger upfront payment, you can save more over the long term.

EC2 Savings Plans give you a more flexible payment option, allowing you to commit to a certain amount of usage without any upfront payment. This can be an excellent option for those who want to save money but don’t have the funds for a large upfront payment.

Leverage Amazon Aurora

Amazon Aurora is a MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible database designed for high performance and scalability. It can help you save on costs by using less storage and compute resources than traditional databases while still delivering high performance.

If you’re dealing with traffic rates that can change quickly, Aurora Serverless might be a good alternative to EC2 autoscaling. In version 2 of Aurora Serverless, you can define minimum and maximum values for read and write replicas; these let you scale each traffic direction up and down independently in seconds.

Best practices for cost management

To effectively manage your Amazon RDS usage and costs, it's crucial to have monitoring measures in place. This enables you to keep track of usage patterns and pinpoint potential opportunities to save on costs.

Implement CloudWatch alarms and Enhanced Monitoring

One method to monitor your RDS usage is through CloudWatch alarms; these notify you when certain thresholds are met, such as when you surpass a specific limit on CPU utilization or storage space. Another alternative is Enhanced Monitoring for RDS, which provides a more granular view of how database processes and threads behave in real time.

Use cost allocation tags

Cost allocation tags are beneficial because they allow you to effortlessly track and allocate costs to particular teams or projects by assigning tags to your RDS instances. This can aid in pinpointing areas where overspending is an issue, enabling you to make the necessary adjustments.

Leverage Cost Anomaly Detection

AWS offers Cost Anomaly Detection to detect and alert to any unexpected changes in spend. This service is handy for helping organizations stay on top of their expense trends and identify potential inefficiencies.

With its proactive monitoring, Cost Anomaly Detection can help prevent surprises and ensure you are using your budget effectively. Organizations can be confident they are staying cost- efficient while meeting their business needs.

Identify cost drivers and take corrective actions

To manage your Amazon RDS spend, you must first analyze usage patterns to determine what is driving the costs. This helps you identify where you may be overutilizing resources, leading to higher bills.

Instance types and storage options must also be reviewed to ensure they are correctly aligned with your needs. For example, a larger instance can drive up costs unnecessarily.

While backups are essential for data protection, backups that aren’t required or frequent exports can increase your bill as well. If you're transferring data between regions or services, the associated spend can add up quickly.

Services to analyze and optimize RDS costs

AWS and third-party providers offer different services that let you get a handle on—and control—your cloud spending. Let’s check them out.

AWS Trusted Advisor

AWS Trusted Advisor is a valuable tool for recommendations, as it provides cost optimization suggestions for performance, security, and cost savings. It is a reliable option for identifying potential opportunities to boost ROI and help you make informed decisions about resource allocation.

Amazon Cost Explorer

If you want to analyze your Amazon RDS expenses, Amazon Cost Explorer is a good starting point. This tool lets you view your spend over different periods and provides a breakdown by instance type, region, usage type, and custom cost allocation tag.

With its advanced features, Amazon Cost Explorer lets you quickly identify cost trends and take the necessary measures to optimize your spending.

ManageEngine CloudSpend

This service analyzes your workloads and allows you to group your resources into distinct business units, each with its own predetermined budget. If a unit is spending too much, CloudSpend offers a solution of automatic service scaling to minimize costs. This guarantees you will stay within your budget and only pay for the services you need.

If you want to be even more proactive with your budgeting, CloudSpend also allows you to estimate your monthly usage based on the previous month's data to help you anticipate future costs and make informed decisions about your resource allocation.

Conclusion

Optimizing the costs associated with Amazon Relational Database Service is crucial for reporting a higher ROI. You can effectively manage your RDS expenses by choosing the correct instance types and storage options, utilizing autoscaling, leveraging Reserved Instances and EC2 Savings Plans, and employing Amazon Aurora.

Monitoring tools like ManageEngine CloudSpend can help you identify cost drivers and trends, allowing you to make data-driven decisions when it comes to resource allocation. By prioritizing cost optimization and employing best practices, you can ensure your organization gets the most out of Amazon RDS while maintaining performance and functionality.