Effective Housekeeping With Rackspace Managed Snapshot Cleanup

Snapshot sprawl is a common problem in mature Amazon Web Service (AWS) environments. Over time, accounts multiply, regions expand and Amazon EBS snapshots quietly accumulate. What once felt insignificant starts to show up as a steady and frustrating increase in monthly spend, often without clear visibility into where that cost originates.

Teams often struggle to answer basic questions such as:

• Which account owns the snapshot?
• Which region is it stored in?
• When was it created?
• Is it managed by Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager or AWS Backup?
• Is it tied to an Amazon Machine Image and is that AMI still in use?

Tracking this information across multiple accounts and regions quickly becomes time consuming. Even when it is possible, manual cleanup raises a bigger question: Is this the best use of your team’s time when automation can handle it faster and more safely?

A systematic approach to snapshot cleanup

Rackspace Managed Snapshot Cleanup addresses this challenge at the account and region level, with organizational-level functionality on the roadmap. Instead of manually hunting through consoles and spreadsheets, automation delivers a complete inventory of snapshot resources in a clear, review-ready format.

The result is faster insight, safe cleanup and fewer surprises on the monthly bill.

Why Rackspace Managed Snapshot Cleanup

Rackspace designed this service to remove friction without introducing risk.

• Simple to deploy
  A single CloudFormation template and basic account and region details are all you need. The service collects relevant data and enables snapshot removal through a straightforward approval process.
• Secure by design
  Cleanup runs using a least-privileged IAM role deployed in the target account. The role can only be assumed from the Rackspace automation account and can be removed immediately after cleanup is complete.
• Fast results
  Data processing is efficient, with insights available in minutes rather than days.
• Context aware
  If a snapshot is associated with an AMI, the service deregisters the AMI before processing snapshot removal to avoid unintended impact.

Architecture overview

Before cleanup begins, a minimal IAM role is deployed with read-only permissions by default. A small CloudFormation parameter update enables resource removal once snapshots are approved for cleanup. This approach balances visibility, control and security.

How the workflow operates

Cleanup follows a simple, automated workflow designed to keep teams in control while eliminating manual effort.

1. Automation runs a full snapshot data pull.
2. The customer reviews the inventory and marks snapshots for cleanup.
3. A dry-run results file is generated for final validation.
4. After approval, selected resources are removed based on the dry-run output.

Both discovery and cleanup are automated, delivering significant time savings compared to snapshot-by-snapshot review.

Business impact

The following impacts reflect what organizations unlock when snapshot cleanup is treated as an operational control, not a manual task.

• Lower operational costs
  Unused snapshots represent wasted spend that can easily reach tens of thousands of dollars per month in large AWS portfolios. Effective housekeeping redirects budget to higher-value initiatives.
• Improved team efficiency
  Manual cleanup consumes engineering time with little strategic return. Automation frees teams to focus on architecture, optimization and innovation.
• Stronger cloud hygiene
  Removing unused resources supports AWS best practices and contributes to a cleaner, more secure environment.

Take control of snapshot sprawl

Rackspace Managed Snapshot Cleanup can help you reduce cost, save time and improve visibility across AWS environments, without adding operational risk. It delivers practical automation where your teams need it most.

Get started today. Rackspace Managed Snapshot Cleanup is available in AWS Marketplace.