AWS Glue - Cost Optimization

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AWS Glue Pricing Structure

AWS Glue pricing is based on a pay-as-you-go model, which means you only pay for the resources you use. AWS Glue charges are divided into various components. The charges vary based on how you use the service.

Listed below are some of the key factors in AWS Glue pricing −

Data Processing Units (DPUs)

Data Processing Units (DPUs) in AWS Glue are a combination of CPU, memory, and network resources. You are charged based on the number of DPUs you used during the ETL job execution.

The cost for running Glue ETL jobs is calculated on a per-second basis, with a minimum billing duration of 1 minute.

AWS Glue Crawlers

Crawlers automatically scan your data to extract metadata and catalog the Glue Data. Glue crawlers are billed per DPU hour, with a minimum billing duration of 10 minutes.

AWS Glue Data Catalog

The Glue Data Catalog is billed based on the number of objects (such as databases, tables, and partitions) stored in the catalog. AWS offers a free tier of 1 million stored objects and 1 million requests per month for the Glue Data Catalog.

Development Endpoints

Development endpoints allow you to create and test ETL scripts interactively. Its pricing is based on the DPUs allocated for the development endpoint.

Tips for Reducing AWS Glue Costs

AWS Glue provides users with powerful tools for managing and processing data, but costs can increase if not managed properly.

In this section, we have highlighted some strategies to reduce your AWS Glue costs −

Optimize Data Processing Units (DPUs)

When you configure your AWS Glue jobs, try to allocate only the required number of DPUs. It is because using more DPUs than necessary will increase your costs.

You should use AWS CloudWatch to monitor the resource usage of your Glue jobs. To manage the cost, you can adjust the DPUs based on actual memory and CPU consumption.

Minimize Crawler Runs

Rather than running crawlers continuously, you can schedule them to run only when new data needs to be discovered or cataloged.

Rather than running crawlers on the entire dataset, you can limit them to specific partitions or folders. This will reduce the processing time and cost.

Use the Glue Data Catalog Wisely

You can use only the free tier of the Glue Data Catalog by keeping the number of stored objects under 1 million.

You should regularly review your Glue Data Catalog and remove outdated or unused tables and partitions to avoid unnecessary charges.

Use the Free Tier for Development Endpoints

As mentioned earlier, the development endpoints are billed by the hour. So, try to terminate them when they are not in use.

Optimize ETL Jobs

You can use Pushdown Predicates to filter your data at the source to reduce the amount of data processed by Glue jobs.

You should use data partitioning strategies to optimize query performance.

Monitor and Analyze Costs

You should use AWS Cost Explorer to track your Glue usage. You can also set billing alarms to notify you when your Glue costs exceed a certain limit.