Meters every database
Collects CPU, memory, I/O, storage, and log usage per database directly from the instance — including CPU on managed RDS, where standard DMV counters aren't available.
Sub-minute sampling cadence
Per-database chargeback for SQL Server on AWS RDS
DBSteward turns a single SQL Server instance invoice into a defensible, auditable cost per database — measured from real usage, not guessed from headcount or row counts.
ENGINEERED BY HIFX • WWW.DBSTEWARD.COM
One RDS InvoiceAWS Cost Explorer Synced
$1,134.00
Northwind_Retail
$550.13Atlas_Logistics
$240.42Meridian_Group
$133.83+ 4 more databases
$199.62Unallocated (shared baseline)
$10.00Instance: demo-fx-rds-apac17 databases active
The problem
One RDS bill. Dozens of databases.
Who pays for what?
Who pays for what?
Shared SQL Server instances on RDS are efficient to run and impossible to bill. AWS charges per instance; your tenants, teams, and cost centres live per database.
The usual workarounds — split evenly, split by storage, split by "feels about right"— are wrong in ways finance can't defend and DBAs can't explain.
Allocation Reality Check
✕
Guesswork & Even Splits
Lightweight microservice databases subsidize high-throughput transactional monoliths. Finance audits fail due to lack of derivation.
✓
Defensible Telemetry Chargeback
Actual CPU time, buffer cache, log writes, and I/O metered directly from SQL Server DMVs mapped directly to the AWS invoice.
What DBSteward does
Usage in, defensible bill out
Engineered to give engineering leaders, FinOps, and cloud architects absolute certainty over SQL Server fleet expenses.
Allocates the real bill
Pulls the instance cost from AWS Cost Explorer and apportions it across databases using a configurable weight engine. Weights can be set per server, overridden per database, or derived from observed behaviour.
AWS Cost Explorer integrated
Proves every number
Each line item carries its full calculation trail — raw usage → share → weight → score → fraction → cost. Nothing is a black box.
Auditable arithmetic trail
Exports finance-ready bills
Itemised PDF and Excel reports per instance, plus a fleet-level portfolio summary. Frozen monthly snapshots so last quarter's bill never changes under you.
PDF & Excel export engine
Flags what doesn't add up
An "unallocated" fraction on every instance surfaces shared baseline cost and data-coverage gaps — a built-in health signal, not a rounding error.
Built-in discrepancy detector
Zero-Agent Architecture
Runs alongside, not inside. Lightweight containerised service with read-only metrics collection and native AWS IAM integration that leaves your workloads unaffected.
Non-invasive deployment
Built for two audiences
One system. Both stakeholders aligned.
DBAs & platform engineers
- —Onboard an instance in minutes with supplied SQL packs
- —Tag, enable, and monitor every database from one console
- —Tune allocation weights per server or per database
- —No agents on the instance; read-only metric collection
Finance & FinOps teams
- —Monthly chargeback per database, per tenant, per cost centre
- —Audit-ready PDF/Excel with the full derivation on each line
- —Fleet portfolio view: cost, allocated, unallocated
- —Consistent, repeatable numbers month over month
Example
One month, one instance
Instance demo-fx-rds-apac1 — 7 databases, one monthly bill.
| Database | Score | Share of Bill | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwind_Retail | 0.485 | $550.13 | |
| Atlas_Logistics | 0.212 | $240.42 | |
| Meridian_Group | 0.118 | $133.83 | |
| Cobalt_Finance | 0.079 | $89.60 | |
| Lumen_Media | 0.051 | $57.85 | |
| Verde_Logistics | 0.032 | $36.29 | |
| Pinnacle_Edu | 0.014 | $15.88 | |
| Unallocated (shared baseline) | — | $10.00 | |
| Total | $1,134.00 | ||
Every figure above expands to its raw metrics, weights, and arithmetic in the exported report.
How it fits your estate
Alongside the fleet, not inside it
DBSteward was built strictly following cloud security best practices. Zero heavy agents to install, zero cluster reboots, and zero intrusive schema changes on production transactional databases.
Runs alongside, not inside.
Lightweight containerised service; your monitored instances only receive a small, versioned set of stored procedures.
AWS-native.
Cost Explorer for billing data, Secrets Manager for credentials, RDS SQL Server Standard/Enterprise as monitored targets.
Production-proven.
Operating today across HiFX's own multi-region RDS SQL Server fleet.
Open by design.
Apache-2.0 licensed core; source availability on the roadmap.
Tech at a glance
Python / FastAPISQLAlchemyAPSchedulerReportLab & openpyxlODBC Driver 18DockerAWS RDSCost ExplorerSecrets Manager
