Trusted Advisor

AWS Trusted Advisor — A service that provides real-time guidance to help you provision your resources following AWS best practices.

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Overview

Trusted Advisor analyzes your AWS environment and provides recommendations for cost optimization, security, performance, and more.

Key Insight: Trusted Advisor is like an AWS expert that continuously reviews your account and suggests improvements — helping you save money, improve security, and follow best practices.

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Core Trusted Advisor Concepts

Concept	Description	Key Point
Check	Specific analysis of your AWS resources	Categorized by type
Recommendation	Actionable advice from a check	Priority levels
Status	Current state (warning, error, OK)	Indicates urgency
Refresh	Update check results	Manual or scheduled

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Trusted Advisor Categories

1. Cost Optimization

Check	Description
Idle EC2 Instances	EC2 running with low CPU utilization
Unattached EBS Volumes	EBS volumes not attached to any instance
Elastic IPs	Unattached Elastic IPs (costing money)
Load Balancer Optimization	Underutilized load balancers
Reserved Instance Coverage	Opportunities for RIs
Cost Optimization Hub (2025)	16 new checks from Cost Optimization Hub

2. Security

Check	Description
Security Groups - Open Ports	Ports open to 0.0.0.0/0
IAM Use	MFA on root account, IAM users
Bucket Permissions	S3 buckets with open access
CloudTrail Logging	CloudTrail enabled or not

3. Performance

Check	Description
Over-utilized EC2	Instances near CPU/memory limits
Load Balancer Optimization	Configure optimal settings
Auto Scaling	Scaling group recommendations

4. Fault Tolerance

Check	Description
EBS Snapshots	EBS volumes without snapshots
AZ Balance	Resources not distributed across AZs
Auto Scaling	Auto scaling group availability

5. Service Limits

Check	Description
Usage Near Limit	Approaching service quota limits
Limit Increase	Request limit increases easily

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How Trusted Advisor Works

flowchart TD
    subgraph Resources["Your AWS Resources"]
        EC2["EC2"]
        S3["S3"]
        IAM["IAM"]
        RDS["RDS"]
    end

    Checks["Trusted Advisor checks resources"]
    Categorize["Categorize findings<br/>Cost | Security | Performance | Fault Tolerance | Service Limits"]
    Recommend["Generate actionable recommendations"]
    Priority["Assign priority level<br/>Low | Medium | High"]

    EC2 --> Checks
    S3 --> Checks
    IAM --> Checks
    RDS --> Checks

    Checks --> Categorize --> Recommend
    Recommend --> Priority

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Priority Levels

Level	Color	Meaning
High Priority	🔴 Red	Critical issues (security risks, major savings)
Medium Priority	🟡 Yellow	Issues that should be addressed
Low Priority	⚪ None	Nice to have improvements

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Key Features

Feature	Core	Business	Enterprise
Core Checks	7	7	7
Total Checks	7	100+	200+
Refresh Interval	3 days	On-demand	On-demand
API Access	❌	❌	✓
Notification Support	❌	✓	✓

Core Checks = Available to all AWS accounts at no cost.

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Use Cases

Use Case	Description
Cost Reduction	Find idle resources, buy RIs, optimize services
Security Hardening	Close open ports, enable MFA, secure S3
Performance	Right-size instances, optimize load balancers
Compliance	Ensure resources follow best practices
Capacity Planning	Monitor service limits, avoid throttling

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Pricing

Support Plan	Price	Checks Included
Basic Support	Free	7 core checks only
Business Support	$29/month minimum	100+ checks, notifications
Enterprise Support	Tiered pricing	200+ checks, API access, dedicated TAM

Recent Enhancement (June 2025): Integration with Cost Optimization Hub — 16 new checks for cost optimization.

⚠️ Pricing Disclaimer: AWS Support pricing is subject to change. Always verify current pricing at the official AWS Support pricing page.

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Trusted Advisor vs Other AWS Services

Service	Focus	Complementarity
Trusted Advisor	Best practice recommendations	General guidance
Config	Configuration compliance	Specific rules
Security Hub	Security findings	Security-specific
Compute Optimizer	Right-sizing recommendations	EC2/EBS specific

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TL;DR

• Trusted Advisor = AWS best practice recommendations
• Categories = Cost Optimization, Security, Performance, Fault Tolerance, Service Limits
• Core Checks = 7 checks available to everyone (free)
• Enhanced Checks = 100+ checks with Business/Enterprise support
• Pricing = Core free; Enhanced requires Business ($29/month) or Enterprise support
• Recent Update = Cost Optimization Hub integration with 16 new checks (June 2025)
• Use Cases = Cost reduction, security hardening, performance optimization

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Resources

AWS Trusted Advisor Documentation Complete Trusted Advisor user guide.

Trusted Advisor Console View your recommendations.

Trusted Advisor Change Log Recent updates and new checks.

AWS Support Plans | Support plan pricing and benefits.