Opportunity Name
Migrate EBS Archive Snapshots to S3 Glacier Deep Archive
AWS Resource Type
Amazon EBS Snapshots (EC2)
Opportunity Description
This Finder identifies EBS snapshots currently stored in the EBS Snapshot Archive tier that are strong candidates for long-term compliance retention and could be migrated to Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive for significantly lower storage cost.
EBS Snapshot Archive is designed for long-term snapshot retention at reduced cost, but for very long retention periods (multi-year compliance scenarios), S3 Glacier Deep Archive is substantially cheaper:
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EBS Snapshot Archive: $0.0125 per GB-month
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S3 Glacier Deep Archive: $0.00099 per GB-month
For large archived snapshots retained for years, this price difference can translate into meaningful long-term savings, even when accounting for the one-time operational effort required to migrate.
This is a Finder-only opportunity. CloudFix helps you discover and quantify savings, but does not perform the migration automatically.
Criteria for Identifying the Opportunity
A snapshot is identified as an opportunity when all of the following are true:
Snapshot eligibility
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Snapshot exists and is accessible via API (
DescribeSnapshots) -
Snapshot is in completed state
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Snapshot is currently in the Archive storage tier
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Snapshot is not shared with other AWS accounts (including public sharing)
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Snapshot is not managed by AWS Backup (identified via
aws:backup*tags) -
Snapshot is not managed by AWS Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) (identified via
aws:dlm*tags) -
Fast Snapshot Restore (FSR) is not enabled for the snapshot
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Snapshot is not referenced by any EBS-backed AMI (not used by an image)
Cost/value thresholds
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Snapshot size is greater than or equal to the configured minimum (default 100 GB)
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Snapshot age is greater than or equal to the configured minimum (default 365 days)
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Projected annual savings meets the minimum threshold (default $50/year)
CloudFix also excludes snapshots tagged with cloudfix:dont-fix-it.
Potential Savings (If Known)
Savings vary by snapshot size and retention duration, but the cost difference is typically large:
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EBS Snapshot Archive: $0.0125/GB-month
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S3 Glacier Deep Archive: $0.00099/GB-month (≈ 12.6× cheaper)
Example (1 TB snapshot):
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Archive: ~$150/year
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Deep Archive: ~$12/year
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Savings: ~$138/year
CloudFix can show monthly savings, annual savings, and cumulative projections (1, 2, 3, and 5 years) to help you prioritize which snapshots offer the best long-term ROI.
What Happens When the Fixer Is Executed?
There is no automatic Fixer for this opportunity.
CloudFix provides a recommendation only. Migration must be completed manually by the customer (or via Professional Services / internal automation). Typical migration high-level steps include restoring the snapshot from Archive and transferring the data into S3 Glacier Deep Archive.
Is It Possible to Roll Back Once CloudFix Implements the Recommendation?
Yes — but rollback is manual.
Because this is a manual migration process, rollback depends on what actions were taken. If the original snapshot is retained until verification is complete, rollback may simply mean stopping the migration and continuing to keep the snapshot in EBS Archive. If the original snapshot is deleted after migration, rollback would require restoring from the S3 archive copy.
Can CloudFix Implement the Fix Automatically Once I Accept the Recommendation?
No.
This is a Finder-only opportunity. CloudFix does not currently automate the migration workflow.
Does This Fix Require Downtime?
No downtime is required for CloudFix discovery.
The migration itself is an offline archival workflow. Whether it affects production depends on your internal processes (for example, if you are depending on the snapshot for operational restores or AMI usage). CloudFix avoids recommending snapshots with common operational dependencies (such as AMI association, AWS Backup/DLM management, or FSR enabled).
Bill Gleeson
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