Cloud block storage provides the performance characteristics required for databases, transactional applications, and high-IOPS workloads — but storage type selection, IOPS provisioning, and cost optimization require careful evaluation to avoid paying for performance you don't need or starving workloads that do.
Block storage misconfigurations are one of the most common sources of cloud cost waste and application performance problems. RLM advises on the right storage type, correct IOPS and throughput provisioning, and the optimization strategies that reduce cost without impacting performance.
A structured advisory process — from discovery and market evaluation to negotiation and post-deployment optimization — tailored to your specific environment and objectives.
We analyze your workload storage requirements — IOPS, throughput, latency, and capacity — by application tier, identifying the performance requirements that must be met and the headroom that's being over-provisioned.
GP2 vs. GP3, io1/io2 vs. ST1/SC1 on AWS; Premium SSD vs. Ultra Disk vs. Standard SSD on Azure; pd-ssd vs. pd-balanced vs. pd-extreme on GCP — each storage type has different performance, cost, and use case fit. We recommend the right type for each workload.
Overprovisioned IOPS is expensive; underprovisioned IOPS causes application performance problems. We right-size storage provisioning based on actual workload metrics — not vendor defaults or DBA estimates.
Block storage snapshots provide point-in-time recovery but accumulate cost without lifecycle management. We design the snapshot policy, retention schedule, and cross-region copy strategy that meets your RTO/RPO requirements cost-effectively.
These are the dimensions that consistently separate successful deployments from costly ones — and the questions RLM will help you answer before any commitment.
io2/io2 Block Express provides highest IOPS but at significant cost premium. Evaluate whether GP3 (with independent IOPS provisioning) meets your requirements at lower cost before committing to provisioned IOPS volumes.
Database workloads are typically IOPS-bound; analytics and log processing are throughput-bound. Evaluate which storage metric is the binding constraint for each workload type.
Block storage snapshots are typically billed for changed blocks. Evaluate snapshot retention policies and the cumulative snapshot cost against your actual recovery requirements.
Some workloads (clustered databases, shared filesystems) require multiple instances to mount the same block device simultaneously. Evaluate multi-attach support for your specific clustering requirements.
Block storage encryption at rest is table stakes. Evaluate customer-managed key support (KMS integration) and audit trail capabilities for your compliance requirements.
IOPS and throughput numbers are maximums, not guarantees. Evaluate performance consistency — variance in latency, throughput under concurrent load — for latency-sensitive applications like databases.
"RLM helped us rationalize our multi-cloud spend and identify over $1.2M in annual savings. Their approach was methodical and unbiased — exactly what we needed."
"Our migration was stalled for months. RLM came in, assessed the gaps, and helped us select a managed services partner that got us across the finish line in 60 days."
Start with a no-cost conversation with an RLM cloud advisor — vendor neutral, no agenda, just clarity on the right path forward.
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