title: How can I tell the raw size of a MySQL DB snapshots in Amazon RDS?
body: <p>When I launch an Amazon MySQL database instance in RDS, I choose the amount of Allocated Storage for it.</p>
  
  <p>When I create a snapshot (either manually or with the automatic backup), it says under "Storage" the same size as the size allocated for the instance, even though my database did not reach that size.</p>
  
  <p>Since the pricing (or the free tier) in Amazon is dependent on the amount of storage used, I would like to know the real storage size I'm using, rather than the size allocated by the original database.</p>
  
  <p>From looking at the Account Activity, and from knowing how mysqldump works, I would guess the snapshot does not really include the empty space allocated.</p>