Outdated RDS Versions Triggering Extended Support Charges

Dhara Kansagara

Service Category

Databases

Cloud Provider

AWS

Service Name

AWS RDS

Inefficiency Type

Outdated Engine Version

Explanation

Many organizations continue to run outdated database engines, such as MySQL 5.7 or PostgreSQL 11, beyond their support windows. Beginning in 2024, AWS automatically enrolls these into Extended Support to maintain security updates, adding incremental charges that scale with vCPU count. These costs often appear suddenly, impacting both production and non-production environments. For development and test databases in particular, the charges may outweigh their value, leading to hidden inefficiencies if not addressed promptly.

Relevant Billing Model

RDS Extended Support incurs a per-vCPU, per-hour surcharge on top of standard RDS instance charges once a database engine version passes its community end-of-life date. Fees apply continuously, even if the instance is idle.

Detection

Inventory all RDS instances and record engine type and major version
Compare deployed versions against AWS published support timelines to determine Extended Support status
Check billing data for “RDS Extended Support” line items and correlate to specific RDS instances
Identify non-production or idle databases that are accruing Extended Support charges without business justification

Remediation

Upgrade RDS instances to currently supported major versions to avoid Extended Support fees
Plan upgrades in non-production first to validate compatibility before applying in production
Decommission unused or development databases that no longer provide value
Embed version monitoring in database governance processes to anticipate and prepare for end-of-life events

Relevant Documentation

Submit Feedback