Upgrade Elasticsearch to Avoid Extended Support Charges

Overview

AWS charges additional Extended Support fees for Elasticsearch domains running end-of-life (EOL) versions. These charges can add 50-100% to your regular Elasticsearch costs and increase over time.

Why This Matters

• High cost: Extended support can double your Elasticsearch bill
• Escalating fees: Charges increase the longer you stay on old versions
• Security risk: EOL versions no longer receive security patches
• Performance: Newer versions offer better performance and features

Common EOL Versions with Extended Support

• Elasticsearch 6.x (all versions)
• Elasticsearch 7.0 - 7.9 (early 7.x versions)

Recommendation

Upgrade to the latest supported Elasticsearch version (7.10 or later, or migrate to OpenSearch).

Implementation Steps

Option 1: In-Place Upgrade (Recommended)

1. Review compatibility: Check application compatibility with target version
2. Backup domain: Create manual snapshot before upgrade
3. Upgrade domain: Use AWS Console or CLI to perform rolling upgrade
4. Test thoroughly: Validate all queries and integrations work
5. Monitor performance: Watch cluster health and query latency

Option 2: Blue/Green Deployment

1. Create new domain with target version
2. Reindex data from old domain
3. Update application endpoints
4. Monitor and validate
5. Delete old domain

Option 3: Migrate to OpenSearch

Consider migrating to OpenSearch (AWS's open-source fork) for long-term support and latest features.

Cost Impact

Eliminates 100% of extended support charges immediately upon upgrade. For a typical domain, this can save $500-$5,000/month depending on cluster size.

Additional Benefits

• Latest security patches
• Improved performance and efficiency
• Access to new features
• Better AWS support
• Lower operational risk