# Inactive DMS Replication Instance

Canonical: https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/inactive-dms-replication-instance

[Cloud Efficiency Hub](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) 

# Inactive DMS Replication Instance

## Explanation

Replication instances are commonly left running after migration tasks are completed, especially when DMS is used for one-time or project-based migrations. Without active replication tasks, these instances no longer serve any purpose but continue to incur hourly compute costs. In large organizations or decentralized migration projects, these idle instances may go unnoticed, contributing to persistent background spend.

## Relevant Billing Model

- DMS Replication Instances are charged per hour of uptime, based on instance size

- Charges accrue even if no replication tasks are actively running

- Additional storage charges may apply for logs and cached data, but the bulk of cost comes from the instance itself

## Detection

- List all DMS replication instances in the account or region

- Check whether each instance has active replication tasks associated with it

- Flag instances with zero tasks or tasks in a stopped or completed state

- Review instance creation and last activity timestamps to identify long-idle resources

## Remediation

- Stop and delete DMS replication instances that are no longer associated with active or planned tasks

- Tag replication instances by project or migration wave to enable future clean-up

- Incorporate DMS instance lifecycle checks into post-migration workflows

- Use infrastructure-as-code where possible to ensure temporary resources are cleaned up automatically

## Relevant Documentation

- [AWS DMS Pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/dms/pricing//%22)

- [Monitoring AWS DMS Tasks and Instances](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/dms/latest/userguide/CHAP_Monitoring.html/)

[Submit Feedback](https://hub.pointfive.co/inefficiencies/inactive-dms-replication-instance)

## At a glance

Reference

CER-0140

Cloud provider

AWS

Service

AWS DMS

Category

[Databases](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/service-category/databases)

Inefficiency type

Orphaned Resource

## Contributed by

- Tom Cross 

### Tom Cross

FinOps Lead @ Aer Lingus

[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomcross/)

---
Source: the public page above. Product screenshots and illustrative interfaces are examples, not live customer data.