Your AWS bill didn't go up because of compute. It went up because of what you never look at

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗪𝗦 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝘂𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 💸

We all watch our EC2 instances… but the silent spend is almost always in storage 👀

And here's the trap that surprises more than one with 𝗦𝟯: you don't just pay for the GB you store… you also pay for 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 😅

When you do a massive 𝗣𝗨𝗧 or 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 — thousands of small files uploading at once — every operation counts. Add up millions of requests and suddenly the bill spikes, even though storage itself is cheap 🔥

The lesson that stuck with me 💡

In 𝗦𝟯 not all data is worth the same, and you have to think about how you use it, not just how much it weighs:

🔥 𝗦𝟯 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 → data you query often (instant access, more expensive).

📦 𝗦𝟯 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 → AWS moves the data on its own based on usage. Ideal if you don't know the access pattern.

🧊 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗿 → the "cold archive". Backups, old logs, legal compliance. Super cheap to store… but takes minutes/hours to retrieve.

The rule I take with me 👇

If you 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 but must keep it → 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗿. And with a 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 you let 𝗔𝗪𝗦 move it automatically from Standard → Glacier after X days. Configure it once and save forever 💪

And for massive PUTs: batch files before uploading. Fewer requests = smaller bill.

It's not magic, it's 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗢𝗽𝘀: paying for what you actually use.

And you, Champion, have you checked what's sleeping in your buckets? 🤔

Keep flying, Champions! ✈️