AWS Cost Spike Hua But CloudTrail Me Kuch Dikha Hi Nahi — Realistic Scenarios
Kabhi kabhi AWS billing dashboard open karte hi shock lagta hai — cost suddenly badh chuki hoti hai, lekin CloudTrail check karne par bilkul clean lagta hai. No suspicious API calls, no IAM misuse, nothing obvious.
Ye situation confusing zaroor hoti hai, lekin zyadatar cases me ye normal hota hai. Problem AWS me nahi, expectations me hoti hai.
Sabse Pehli Reality: CloudTrail ≠ Billing Monitor
CloudTrail ka kaam API calls aur management events log karna hai. Ye service usage, background processing, ya internal billing calculations ko track nahi karta. Isliye har cost change ka explanation CloudTrail me milna expected hi nahi hai.
Scenario 1: Pure Usage-Based Charges
Data transfer, CloudWatch logs ingestion, metrics storage, snapshots aur background workloads — ye sab charges usage ke basis par hote hain. Inme koi direct “event” nahi hota jo CloudTrail me log ho. Bill badhta hai, par CloudTrail silent rehta hai.
Scenario 2: Billing Data Delay & Aggregation
AWS billing real-time nahi hoti. Usage pehle collect hota hai, phir aggregate hokar bill me reflect hota hai. Isi wajah se CloudTrail timeline aur billing timeline aksar match nahi karti.
Scenario 3: Region & Marketplace Blind Spots
CloudTrail region-specific hota hai, jabki billing global hoti hai. Kisi aur region me chal rahi activity ya AWS Marketplace subscription quietly bill increase kar sakti hai — bina obvious CloudTrail entry ke.
Jab CloudTrail Clean Lage, Tab Kya Check Karein?
- Cost Explorer me service-wise aur day-wise breakdown
- All enabled regions ka usage review
- AWS Marketplace active products
- CloudWatch logs aur metrics growth trend
Final Takeaway
CloudTrail ka silent hona na to security guarantee hai, na hi billing error ka proof. AWS cost samajhne ke liye sirf CloudTrail par depend rehna risky ho sakta hai. Real visibility tab aati hai jab billing aur usage dono ko saath me analyse kiya jaye.
CloudTrail tells you who did what — not why your AWS bill suddenly spiked. Cost ≠ Events. Usage ≠ API calls. #AWS #CloudTrail #CloudCosts #DevOps
