Unattached AMIs Stat Card

Overview

The "Unattached AMIs Stat Card" provides insights into Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) that are not currently attached to any EC2 instances within your AWS environment. This stat card helps IT and Security teams track unused or orphaned AMIs, which may no longer be needed and could be consuming unnecessary storage. Properly managing unattached AMIs ensures that the environment remains clean, cost-effective, and secure.

Why It Matters

For IT Engineers:

1. Resource Cleanup:

   • Unattached AMIs can accumulate over time and take up valuable storage space. IT teams can use this stat card to identify and remove obsolete or unused AMIs, helping to optimize cloud resource usage and reduce unnecessary storage costs.

2. Cost Management:

   • While unattached AMIs do not incur compute charges, they still contribute to storage costs, especially if they are large or numerous. Monitoring unattached AMIs allows IT engineers to manage storage resources more efficiently and keep costs under control.

3. Operational Efficiency:

   • Regularly reviewing unattached AMIs helps IT teams maintain a streamlined and organized AWS environment, ensuring that only relevant AMIs are stored and available for future use.

For Security Engineers:

1. Security Risk Mitigation:

   • Unused AMIs may contain outdated or vulnerable configurations that pose a security risk if accidentally reused. By tracking unattached AMIs, security engineers can ensure that potentially insecure AMIs are deleted or updated to maintain a secure environment.

2. Compliance and Auditing:

   • Compliance standards often require the regular audit and removal of unused resources. The stat card helps security engineers ensure that unused AMIs do not linger in the environment, reducing the risk of non-compliance with security policies or regulatory frameworks.

3. Incident Prevention:

   • Storing outdated or vulnerable AMIs without monitoring can create gaps in security if these AMIs are inadvertently used to launch new instances. This stat card helps security teams proactively prevent incidents by ensuring that only secure, approved AMIs are retained.

By using the "Unattached AMIs Stat Card," IT and Security teams can optimize storage, reduce costs, and maintain a secure and compliant environment by tracking and managing unused AMIs.