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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 InternetPricing
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 ToPricing
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
For other regions check On-Demand EC2 data transfer pricing.


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 InternetPricing
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 ToPricing
Amazon CloudFront$0.00 per GB
AWS GovCloud (US-West)$0.02 per GB
AWS GovCloud (US-East)$0.02 per GB
For other regions check S3 data transfer pricing.


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 AmericaJapan Australia and New Zealand Hong Kong, Indonesia,  Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and VietnamIndia 
 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 AmericaJapan Australia and New ZealandHong Kong, Indonesia,  Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and VietnamIndia 
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
For more detailed pricing check Amazon CloudFront Pricing

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 InternetPricing
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 ToPricing
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
For other regions check Aurora data transfer pricing.


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
For other regions check AWS Direct Connect data transfer pricing.

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.

image

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.

image 1

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.

image 2

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.

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