Amazon Web Services guides users on deleting unused EBS volumes
Amazon Web Services has released guidance and an automated process for identifying and managing unused Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes. The aim is to help customers control their cloud costs by removing unneeded resources.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has published guidance to help organizations reduce their cloud expenditure by identifying and deleting unneeded Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes. EBS volumes can persist and incur charges even after associated Amazon EC2 instances are terminated, unless explicitly set to delete upon termination.
AWS states that cost management is a top priority for many customers. Unused or overlooked EBS volumes can accumulate charges and contribute to unexpected expenses. The company's OpsCenter, a feature within AWS Systems Manager, now offers a process to identify and manage these orphaned volumes.
The outlined process utilizes Amazon CloudWatch Events to trigger an AWS Lambda function periodically. This function parses AWS CloudTrail data to identify EBS volumes that have remained detached from any EC2 instance for a user-defined period, creating operational work items (OpsItems) in AWS OpsCenter for these volumes.
Additionally, AWS demonstrates automated steps for users to snapshot identified volumes before potential deletion. This increased visibility aims to empower users to take informed actions for cost optimization within their cloud environments.