Unarchived Long-Term EBS Snapshots

Kyler Rupe

Service Category

Storage

Cloud Provider

AWS

Service Name

AWS EBS

Inefficiency Type

Suboptimal Storage Tier

Explanation

EBS Snapshot Archive is a lower-cost storage tier for rarely accessed snapshots retained for compliance, regulatory, or long-term backup purposes. Archiving snapshots that do not require frequent or fast retrieval can reduce snapshot storage costs by up to 75%. Despite this, many organizations retain large volumes of snapshots in the standard tier long after their operational value has expired.

Relevant Billing Model

Charged per GB-month of snapshot data stored, with pricing dependent on whether the snapshot is in the standard tier or the lower-cost archive tier

Detection

Identify EBS snapshots that are more than 90 days old and have not been accessed or restored
Review backup policies or compliance requirements that justify long-term retention
Evaluate whether snapshots are one-time or periodic backups that are unlikely to be used operationally (e.g., end-of-project, monthly compliance snapshots)
Check for large volumes of retained snapshots from now-defunct workloads or projects

Remediation

Archive eligible snapshots using the `ModifySnapshotTier` API, AWS CLI, or console
Confirm organizational retention policies before archiving
Ensure teams understand how to restore archived snapshots and the longer retrieval times involved
Educate teams on snapshot lifecycle and the impact of incremental chaining for efficient archive selection

Relevant Documentation

EBS Snapshot Archive Overview
How EBS Snapshots Work
EBS Snapshot Archive FAQ

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