This inefficiency occurs when a DynamoDB table is no longer accessed by any active workload but continues to accumulate storage charges. These tables often remain after a project ends, a feature is retired, or data is migrated elsewhere. Without any read or write activity, the table provides no functional value and becomes a cost liability.

This inefficiency occurs when an RDS instance remains in the running state but is no longer actively serving application traffic. These instances may be remnants of retired applications, paused development environments, or workloads that were migrated elsewhere. If an instance shows no active connections and sustained inactivity across CPU and memory metrics, it is likely idle and generating unnecessary costs.

This inefficiency occurs when an RDS instance is consistently operating below its provisioned capacity—for example, showing low CPU, or memory utilization over an extended period. This often results from conservative initial sizing, decreased workload demand, or failure to review and adjust after deployment. Running oversized RDS instances leads to unnecessary compute and licensing costs without delivering additional value.

This inefficiency occurs when an RDS instance is allocated significantly more storage than it consumes. For example, a 2TB volume might contain only 150GB of actual data. Since RDS does not allow reducing allocated storage on existing instances, these volumes continue to incur charges based on total provisioned size—not actual usage. This often goes unnoticed in long-running databases that no longer require their original allocation.

When an RDS cluster is not upgraded in time, it can fall out of standard support and incur Extended Support charges. This often happens when upgrade cycles are delayed, blocked by compatibility issues, or deprioritized due to competing initiatives. Over time, these fees can add up significantly. Staying on an outdated version also increases operational risk and reduces access to engine improvements, performance enhancements, and security patches.