What are the ####-VendedLog-Bytes charges on my AWS bill?

Short description

Note: In this article, #### represents the AWS Region code for the Region where you configured the logs. For example, USE1 is the Region code for us-east-1.

When you configure Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) Flow Logs to transfer data to Amazon CloudWatch Logs, ####-VendedLog-Bytes charges appear in Cost Explorer. When you use Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) to store your logs, ####-S3-Egress-Bytes charges appear.

You can use the following AWS services to publish logs to Amazon S3:

• Amazon VPC
• AWS Global Accelerator
• Amazon Route 53 Resolver
• AWS WAF

For more information about how charges are calculated for vended logs, see Amazon CloudWatch pricing.

You can also use AWS Data Exports to manually calculate how much it costs to transfer your data to Amazon S3. 

Resolution

Use Cost Explorer to view charges

Complete the following steps:

1. Open the Billing page on the AWS Billing and Cost Management console.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Cost Explorer.
3. From the Report parameter pane, apply the following filters to find the relevant charges:
   For Time, choose the relevant dates.
   For Granularity, choose Daily.
   For Dimension, choose Usage type.
   Under Filters, for Service, select CloudWatch. Then, choose Apply.
   For Usage Type, enter "vended" in the search field, and then select the vended logs that you want to review.
4. Choose Apply filter.

Two graphs show the daily volume of logs and the corresponding costs. You can compare how the log volume changes in relation to the workloads in your environment.

(Optional) Use AWS Data Exports to manually view charges

You can use the Data Exports page on the AWS Billing and Management console to create data exports. Compare the costs with the charges in your AWS bill, and implement the cost savings strategies to reduce your charges.

Reduce future costs

Vended log charges are based on the volume of logs that you send to Amazon CloudWatch Logs, Amazon S3, or Amazon Data Firehose. To reduce future costs, reduce the quantity of logs.

If you use VPC Flow Logs, then limit your scope based on the number of elastic network interfaces. Also, turn on the feature only in the following situations:

• For specific network interfaces or subnets
• For REJECT or ACCEPT traffic
• When you're troubleshooting issues

Related information

Analyzing, optimizing, and reducing CloudWatch costs