AWS Cost Efficiency
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Cost Implications of Amazon EKS and RDS Extended Support
Understanding AWS Extended Support for EKS & RDS Costs and Key Considerations
Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides extended support options for its Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and Relational Database Service (RDS) to help customers manage older software versions. This blog will break down the costs, features, and implications of these extended support plans.
Extended support is designed for customers who need to continue using older versions of software beyond their standard support lifecycle. AWS offers this service to ensure that critical security updates and bug fixes are available for versions that are no longer actively maintained.
With Amazon RDS Extended Support, you can continue running your database on a major engine version past the RDS end of standard support date for an additional cost. On the RDS end of standard support date, Amazon RDS automatically enrolls your databases in RDS Extended Support. RDS Extended Support is only available for major versions. It isn't available for minor versions. RDS Extended Support is available for RDS for MySQL 5.7 and 8.0, and for RDS for PostgreSQL 11 and higher.
After the standard support period for Amazon RDS ends, if you haven't opted out of RDS Extended Support when creating or restoring your database instances, AWS will automatically enroll them in Extended Support.
RDS extended support charges vary by database engine and region but typically fall within the range of:
So, if there is one instance which requires Amazon RDS Extended Support the cost of Extended Support for one month (in the first two years) will be : $0.1 * 720 = $72 per month(considering 720 hours in a month). This equates to additional $720 for 10 RDS instances.
You will incur charges for all engines enrolled in RDS Extended Support beginning the day after the RDS end of standard support date. If you are running a DB instance on RDS for MySQL 5.7, this version reaches end of standard support on February 29, 2024. If you are deployed in US East (N. Virginia), you will be charged $0.1 per vCPU-hr between March 1, 2024 to February 28, 2026. Starting March 1, 2026, you will be charged $0.2 per vCPU-hr. Note that this is an additional charge levied for extended support on the normal price for the instance.
Amazon EKS clusters running on a Kubernetes version in the extended support window will be charged a total of $0.60 per cluster per hour, effective from the April 2024 billing cycle (starting April 1, 2024). Pricing for clusters running Kubernetes versions in standard support is unchanged — you will continue to pay $0.10 per cluster per hour.
For clusters running on extended support versions, the costs can accumulate quickly if not managed properly. The following table summarizes the cost for EKS -
If a cluster runs on an extended support version for 1 month it could result in substantial additional charges compared to maintaining a cluster on a standard version. Considering one month has 720 hours :
Extended Support can quickly add on cost if not monitored and controlled properly. By keeping RDS instances and EKS clusters under standard support version we can avoid the extra cost. For EKS you can upgrade your cluster at any time to a version in standard support by following the EKS Version Calendar. Similarly for Amazon RDS following the MySQL Version release calendar and the PostgreSQL Version release calendar for upgrading instances.
To avoid extended support charges, plan upgrades well in advance of the end-of-support dates for your software versions. For RDS instances upgrade to an engine version that's covered under standard support. Also one may want to delete the database that's running a major version past the RDS end of standard support date for non-prod environments. For EKS plan migrations well in advance as EKS migrations can get tricky. Also you can disable extended support for EKS. If you disable extended support, your EKS cluster will be auto upgraded at the end of standard support.
Utilize AWS tools like Cost Explorer and scripts provided by AWS to monitor your usage and estimate potential costs associated with extended support. The charges will restart if your target engine version enters RDS Extended Support in the future. So constant cost monitoring is needed of infra to make sure you are billed right for your workload.
Evaluate whether staying on an older version is worth the additional costs compared to upgrading to a supported version, which may involve initial resource investment but could save money in the long run.
Extended support for AWS EKS and RDS offers services for maintaining older software versions but comes at a cost that can escalate quickly if not managed properly. By understanding the pricing structures, automatic enrollment processes, and effective cost management strategies, organizations can make informed decisions about their cloud infrastructure and ensure they remain compliant with AWS's evolving software lifecycle policies.
This overview should equip you with the necessary insights into managing your AWS EKS and RDS extended support costs effective.
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