In the previous post of this series (Mistake #6 - Taking too Few or No EBS Snapshots) we pointed out how AWS users fail to leverage EBS Snapshots in their back-up process.  On the other extreme of snapshot usage lays another mistake. Being easy as it is, EBS snapshot creation, when done without moderation, leads very fast to sprawling. Too many snapshots to manage add complexity to your backup process. Even though you’re only charged for the differential data, snapshot sprawling can still increase your storage costs on an aggregated basis, especially in combination with another common mistake – forgetting to clean up stale resources.

EBS snapshots need to be taken in moderation.  We found a decent sample size of our users actually taking too many EBS snapshots, which leads to unnecessary complexity when managing backups.  Even though the charge is placed on differential data, snapshot sprawling can easily increase storage costs on an aggregated basis.

Check out this related insight: Excessive number of EBS volume snapshots

Keywords: ebs volume snapshots, snapshot usage, ebs snapshots storage costs,