Cloud costs: the great enigma of our time. But fear not, intrepid cloud wrangler! With a dash of AWS wizardry and a sprinkle of N2W magic, it’s time to illuminate the darkest corners of your backup budget.
Activate Your Inner Cloud Accountant
Let’s be honest: telling your boss, “I think my backups probably don’t cost much?” won’t win you any gold stars. You want facts, figures, and—ideally—a slick dashboard to show how prudent you’ve been. That’s where AWS Cost Explorer and N2W join forces, giving you clarity, confidence, and maybe enough leftover budget for that coffee subscription you’ve been eyeing.
But first, there are a few digital dragons to slay.
Begin at the Top: Your AWS Payor Account
Before you grab your torch and pitchfork, remember: every quest starts at headquarters. To enable cost tracking right down to the penny, you’ll need to log into your AWS payor account—the mothership, the captain’s bridge, the one with the keys to the financial kingdom. Only from here can you unlock the full power of cost allocation tags and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
The Secret Passcodes: Activate Cost Allocation Tags
Okay, heroes, time to find the sacred tags. These aren’t the kind you find on sale at your local department store—these are cost allocation tags, your ticket to precise, drama-free cost tracking.
You’ll need two VIPs for this show:
- CPM Server id (because every server wants to be known by name)
- CPM Policy Name (because every policy deserves a little recognition)
Here’s your quest log:
- Open your payor AWS account and head over to Billing and Cost Management. (Don’t get distracted by shiny billing graphs.)
- Look for Cost Allocation Tags on the left sidebar.
- Use that trusty filter to summon “CPM Server id” and “CPM Policy Name” from the digital depths.
- Select both with the gravitas of a cost-conscious knight, and hit Activate.
Now, AW(S)tand back. It’ll take up to 48 hours for these tags to start spreading their magic across your account. Time for a coffee—or maybe even a nap. You’ve earned it.
N2W Cost Explorer: The Crystal Ball for Your Backup Spend
Once your tags are good and ready (tick-tock goes the cloud clock), waltz over to your N2W Console. Navigate to Settings, then to “Cost Explorer.” There, like a vault opening to reveal untold riches, you’ll find a toggle to officially enable Cost Explorer.
No spreadsheets. No decoding ancient billing files. Just activate, sit back, and let the backup cost revelations begin.
Count the Coins: See Your Backup Costs, Policy by Policy
Here’s where the legend comes true: after 48 hours, head back to Cost Explorer within N2W and feast your eyes on the treasure—your backup costs broken down by server, policy, and more. It’s like pulling a detailed receipt out of the world’s most complicated vending machine.
Want to know which team’s prod environment is spending the most? Done. Curious if that endless test backup is draining your budget? Solved. With this setup, you can finally answer the age-old question, “Where is all our money going?”—and look spectacular while doing it.
Sleep Soundly, Spend Smartly
Armed with N2W and AWS Cost Explorer, you’re not just another IT manager desperately juggling invoices and permissions. No, you’re the master of your domain, the Sherlock Holmes of cloud economics, ready to keep budgets in check and surprises at bay.
So relax—your backups are costed, your policies are tracked, and your cloud wallet just got a lot less mysterious.
