AWS Data Transfer refers to the movement of data between different services or locations within the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing environment. This includes data transfer between AWS regions, data transfer between services within a region, and data transfer between an AWS region and the internet. It is important to monitor and manage data transfer costs, as they can add up quickly. This can be done by using tools like the AWS Cost Explorer, which allows you to view and analyze your data transfer costs. In this blog, we will understand Data Transfer and how to obtain using cost explorer.
What is Data Transfer Cost
AWS Data Transfer costs refer to the fees associated with moving data between different services or locations within the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing environment. These costs are typically incurred when data is transferred between different services, such as moving data from an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instance to an Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket, or when data is sent to or received from the internet.
AWS data transfer costs are based on the amount of data transferred, the direction of the data transfer, and the location of the source and destination. For example, data transfer costs will be higher for data sent to or received from the internet than for data transferred within an AWS region.
AWS offers different pricing options for data transfer, such as a free tier for certain services, and different pricing for different types of data transfer, such as data transfer between services in the same region, data transfer between regions, and data transfer between different types of services, such as S3 and EC2.
How Pricing works
AWS offers different pricing options for data transfer, such as data transfer in and out of the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Amazon S3. Some services like Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Elastic File System (EFS), and Amazon RDS have no data transfer costs. It is important to monitor and manage data transfer costs, as they can add up quickly. This can be done by using tools like the AWS Cost Explorer, which allows you to view and analyze your data transfer costs. Additionally, you can use services like Amazon CloudWatch and Amazon CloudTrail to monitor and troubleshoot data transfer issues.
For example, data transfer between two EC2 instances in the same region is typically priced lower than data transfer between two regions. Additionally, data transfer between availability zones within a region may be priced differently than data transfer between regions.
AWS offers a variety of services that can be used to transfer data, including:
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2):
Used for data transfer between instances within a region or between regions. The pricing below is based on data transferred “in” to and “out” of Amazon EC2.
Region: US East (New York City)
| Data Transfer IN To Amazon EC2 From Internet | Pricing |
| All data transfers in | $0.00 per GB |
| Data Transfer OUT From Amazon EC2 To Internet | |
| First 10 TB / Month | $0.09 per GB |
| Next 40 TB / Month | $0.085 per GB |
| Next 100 TB / Month | $0.07 per GB |
| Greater than 150 TB / Month | $0.05 per GB |
| Data Transfer OUT From Amazon EC2 To | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Amazon CloudFront | $0.00 per GB |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West) | $0.02 per GB |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East) | $0.02 per GB |
| Africa (Cape Town) | $0.02 per GB |
| Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) | $0.02 per GB |
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3):
Used for data transfer between S3 buckets within a region or between regions.
| Data Transfer IN To Amazon S3 From the Internet | Pricing |
| All data transfer in | $0.00 per GB |
| Data Transfer OUT From Amazon S3 To Internet | |
| First 10 TB / Month | $0.09 per GB |
| Next 40 TB / Month | $0.085 per GB |
| Next 100 TB / Month | $0.07 per GB |
| Greater than 150 TB / Month | $0.05 per GB |
| Data Transfer OUT From Amazon S3 To | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Amazon CloudFront | $0.00 per GB |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West) | $0.02 per GB |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East) | $0.02 per GB |
Amazon CloudFront:
Used for data transfer between CloudFront locations and origin servers. Free for origin fetches from any AWS origin such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), or Elastic Load Balancers.
Regional Data Transfer Out to Internet (per GB)
| Per Month | United States, Mexico, and Canada | Europe and Israel | South Africa, Kenya, and Middle East | South America | Japan | Australia and New Zealand | Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam | India |
| First 10TB | $0.085 | $0.085 | $0.110 | $0.110 | $0.114 | $0.114 | $0.120 | $0.109 |
| Next 40TB | $0.080 | $0.080 | $0.105 | $0.105 | $0.089 | $0.098 | $0.100 | $0.085 |
| Next 100TB | $0.060 | $0.060 | $0.090 | $0.090 | $0.086 | $0.094 | $0.095 | $0.082 |
| Next 350TB | $0.040 | $0.040 | $0.080 | $0.080 | $0.084 | $0.092 | $0.090 | $0.080 |
| Next 524TB | $0.030 | $0.030 | $0.060 | $0.060 | $0.080 | $0.090 | $0.080 | $0.078 |
| Next 4PB | $0.025 | $0.025 | $0.050 | $0.050 | $0.070 | $0.085 | $0.070 | $0.075 |
| Over 5PB | $0.020 | $0.020 | $0.040 | $0.040 | $0.060 | $0.080 | $0.060 | $0.072 |
Regional Data Transfer Out to Origin (per GB)
| United States, Mexico, and Canada | Europe and Israel | South Africa, Kenya, and Middle East | South America | Japan | Australia and New Zealand | Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam | India | |
| All Data Transfer | $0.020 | $0.020 | $0.060 | $0.125 | $0.060 | $0.080 | $0.060 | $0.160 |
Request Pricing for All HTTP Methods (per 10,000)
| United States, Mexico, and Canada | Europe and Israel | South Africa, Kenya, and Middle East | South America | Japan | Australia and New Zealand | Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam | India | |
| HTTP requests | $0.0075 | $0.0090 | $0.0090 | $0.0160 | $0.0090 | $0.0090 | $0.0090 | $0.0090 |
| HTTPS requests | $0.0100 | $0.0120 | $0.0120 | $0.0220 | $0.0120 | $0.0125 | $0.0120 | $0.0120 |
Amazon Aurora:
Data is transferred between Amazon Aurora and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances in the same Availability Zone.
| Data Transfer IN To Amazon RDS From Internet | Pricing |
| All data transfers in | $0.00 per GB |
| Data Transfer OUT From Amazon RDS To Internet | |
| First 10 TB / Month | $0.09 per GB |
| Next 40 TB / Month | $0.085 per GB |
| Next 100 TB / Month | $0.07 per GB |
| Greater than 150 TB / Month | $0.05 per GB |
| Data Transfer OUT From Amazon RDS To | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Amazon CloudFront | $0.00 per GB |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West) | $0.02 per GB |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East) | $0.02 per GB |
| Africa (Cape Town) | $0.02 per GB |
| Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) | $0.02 per GB |
AWS Direct Connect:
Used for data transfer between on-premises data centers and AWS regions.
| Data transfer from AWS Region | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| To Direct Connect Location | All US Regions | Canada (Central) | All Europe Regions | Asia Pacific (Tokyo, Osaka) | Asia Pacific (Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong) | Asia Pacific (Indonesia) | Asia Pacific (Mumbai) | South America (Sao Paulo) | Asia Pacific (Sydney) | Middle East (Bahrain, UAE) | Africa (Cape Town) |
| CoreSite NY1, New York | $0.0200 | $0.0200 | $0.0282 | $0.0900 | $0.0900 | $0.1062 | $0.0850 | $0.1500 | $0.1300 | $0.1100 | $0.1100 |
How do you calculate Data Transfer Costs in AWS Cost Explorer
Using the AWS Cost Explorer to calculate your data transfer costs, you can easily monitor and manage your cloud computing expenses and ensure that you stay within your budget. Here’s a detailed explanation of how to use the AWS Cost Explorer to calculate your data transfer costs:
Step 1: Open the Cost Explorer
To access the AWS Cost Explorer, log in to the AWS Management Console and navigate to the Cost Explorer service.
Step 2: Select the date/time period
In the Cost Explorer, you can choose the date/time period you want to view data transfer costs by using the date picker at the top of the page. You can select a specific date range or choose a pre-defined time period, such as the past 30 days or the past 12 months.
Step 3: Select Group By, Dimension as Usage Type
In the Cost Explorer, select “Usage Type” as the dimension you want to group your costs by. This will allow you to see the breakdown of your costs by the type of service or resource used.
Step 4: Add a new Filter, select Usage type group, and type in Data Transfer
Click on “Add Filter” and select “Usage Type Group” and type in “Data Transfer” to filter your costs to only include data transfer costs.
Step 5: Select all 19 that applies
Next, select all 19 usage types that apply to your data transfer costs. For example, you can select:
- DDB: Data Transfer – Internet (IN)
- EC2: Data Transfer – CloudFront (Out)
- EC2: Data Transfer – Internet (Out)
Step 6: Click Apply Filter
Finally, click on the “Apply Filter” button to view your data transfer costs. You can now see the total cost of your data transfer, broken down by region, usage type, and other dimensions.
Conclusion
AWS Cost Explorer is a valuable tool that provides a clear and simple way to monitor and manage your AWS costs. By following the six steps outlined in this blog, you can easily calculate your Data Transfer Costs and get a clear picture of the costs associated with moving data between regions and zones. Whether you are a small business owner or a large enterprise, AWS Cost Explorer is an essential tool that can help you make informed decisions about your AWS usage and costs. By utilizing this tool, you can better understand your spending and find ways to optimize your AWS costs to meet your specific needs and goals.
