Back when I first started using AWS in 2010 I had a couple of EC2 instances running across a few regions for some web hosting clients I was managing at the time. After a few years, I got rid of the instances and supplementary services as they where no longer required. For the next two years, while I stopped using AWS completely, I was still getting a bill and being charged $1.23 every month. The amount was so insignificant on a monthly scale that I ignored it for the longest time… finally after 24 months worth of the charge, I decided to log in again and try work out what was causing the amount to be billed. As it turned out, I had not terminated the static IP component of the EC2 instance and this is what was triggering the charge.
While it cost me not that much overall, it was a great example of how costs in the public cloud can get away from you and build over time if no careful.
Since then, I’ve had some other interesting run ins with AWS security and billing, and I use AWS more than ever in my lab/testing with here at Veeam. In fact, Recently with the release of Veeam Backup for AWS, I’ve needed to be more aware again of what is happening in my AWS tenancy. Costs can blow out quickly if you lose control, and I needed to be able to see where I was at holistically across all regions. Step in Runecast Analyser again and a feature that I feel has gone underneath the radar a little since its release…the AWS Analyser.
While I have had Runecast installed in my lab and looking at my VMware environments, I hadn’t connected it to my AWS account yet. After I went through the easy setup hooking up the Analyser instance to the AWS API I was presented with this dashboard.
Right away I knew where I had active services across AWS’s regions and where I potentially have issues.
Runecast Analyzer automates checks for misconfigurations and alignment with AWS Best Practices.
What I found was some generic Medium Issue for the most.. and apparently as can be shown below, I still haven’t learn my lesson on getting rid of unused Elastic IP addresses 🙂
As with the VMware analytics, we are also presented with a table view of all issue from which to sort through.
The feature from Runecast is extremely useful for those that need a simple way to get an overview of what has been deployed into AWS… but more importantly, can show you where you have gone wrong with key AWS best practices. I’m looking forward to Runecast expanding on this feature to support other Public Clouds.
