S3 Storage Classes

Amazon S3 offers several storage classes that are designed to help customers manage their data storage costs and performance requirements. These storage classes differ in terms of durability, availability, and latency, and are optimized for different types of workloads.

1. S3 Standard: This is the default storage class and is designed for frequently accessed data. It offers low latency and high throughput performance and provides 99.99% availability.
2. S3 Intelligent-Tiering: This storage class is designed for data with unknown or changing access patterns. It automatically moves data between two access tiers (frequent and infrequent) based on usage patterns. This storage class offers the same low latency and high throughput performance as S3 Standard but at a lower cost.
3. S3 Standard-Infrequent Access: This storage class is designed for infrequently accessed data that still requires low latency and high throughput performance. It offers a lower storage cost than S3 Standard but has a retrieval fee for accessing the data.
4. S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access: This storage class is designed for infrequently accessed data that can be recreated if lost. It stores data in a single availability zone and provides 99.5% availability. This storage class has a lower storage cost than S3 Standard-Infrequent Access, but with a higher risk of data loss in case of an availability zone failure.
5. S3 Glacier: This storage class is designed for long-term archival data that can tolerate several hours of retrieval time. It offers very low storage costs but has a longer retrieval time and a retrieval fee.
6. S3 Glacier Deep Archive: This storage class is designed for long-term archival data that can tolerate retrieval times of 12 hours or more. It offers the lowest storage costs of all S3 storage classes but has the longest retrieval time and a retrieval fee.

By choosing the appropriate storage class for your data, you can optimize your storage costs while ensuring that your data is available and accessible when you need it.

S3 durability and availability

Amazon S3 is designed to provide high durability and availability for data stored in the service.

Durability: S3 is designed to provide 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability for objects stored in the service. This means that on average, S3 will lose only one object in 10 million years of storage. S3 achieves this high level of durability by replicating objects across multiple geographically dispersed Availability Zones (AZs) within a region. Each object is automatically stored across a minimum of three AZs, which ensures that even if one or two AZs become unavailable due to a natural disaster or other event, the data will remain accessible from the remaining AZs.

Availability: S3 is designed to provide high availability for data stored in the service. S3 Standard and S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage classes offer 99.99% availability, which means that objects stored in these storage classes will be available for retrieval 99.99% of the time. S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access and S3 Glacier storage classes have lower availability due to the fact that they store data in a single AZ, but they still offer high durability and availability for their intended use cases.

It is important to note that while S3 is designed to provide high durability and availability, it is still important to design your applications to handle occasional errors and failures that can occur in any distributed system. You can use features such as versioning, cross-region replication, and object lifecycle policies to help ensure the availability and durability of your data.

S3 IA – infrequent access

Amazon S3 Infrequent Access (S3 IA) is a storage class designed for data that is accessed less frequently but still requires low latency and high throughput performance when accessed. S3 IA is suitable for data that is accessed less than once a month on average but requires fast and reliable access when it is needed.

S3 IA is priced lower than the S3 Standard storage class but has a retrieval fee associated with it when data is accessed. This retrieval fee is charged per GB retrieved and varies depending on the region and retrieval time. However, S3 IA still provides high durability and availability, with the same 99.99% availability as the S3 Standard storage class.

Some use cases for S3 IA include:

1. Backup and disaster recovery: S3 IA can be used for storing backup data that is accessed infrequently, but needs to be available quickly in case of a disaster recovery scenario.
2. Data archives: S3 IA is a cost-effective storage solution for data archives that need to be accessed infrequently, but require low latency and high throughput when accessed.
3. Media storage: S3 IA can be used for storing media files that are accessed less frequently, but still require fast and reliable access when needed.
4. Compliance and regulatory storage: S3 IA can be used for storing compliance and regulatory data that needs to be retained for a long time, but is accessed infrequently.

S3 IA is a great option for storing infrequently accessed data that still requires fast and reliable access when needed, while providing cost savings compared to the S3 Standard storage class.

S3 standard

Amazon S3 Standard is the default storage class for Amazon S3 and is designed for frequently accessed data that requires low latency and high throughput performance. S3 Standard provides high durability, availability, and performance for data stored in the service.

Here are some common use cases for S3 Standard:

1. Web hosting: S3 Standard can be used to host static websites or as a content delivery network (CDN) to deliver website assets such as images, videos, and other static content.
2. Cloud applications: S3 Standard can be used to store and serve data for cloud applications, such as user-generated content, logs, and backups.
3. Big data analytics: S3 Standard can be used to store large volumes of data for big data analytics platforms, such as Amazon EMR, Amazon Athena, and Amazon Redshift.
4. Mobile and gaming applications: S3 Standard can be used to store and serve mobile and gaming application assets, such as images, videos, and other media files.
5. Archival storage: S3 Standard can be used for short-term data retention or as a temporary storage layer for archival data before it is moved to a lower-cost storage class.

S3 Standard is a versatile storage class that can be used for a wide range of workloads and use cases that require fast and reliable access to frequently accessed data. It provides high durability, availability, and performance, making it a great choice for many applications and industries.

S3 glacier

Amazon S3 Glacier is a low-cost storage class designed for long-term data archiving and backup. S3 Glacier is ideal for data that is rarely accessed but needs to be retained for a long time, often for regulatory or compliance reasons. Retrieval times for data stored in S3 Glacier can range from minutes to hours, depending on the retrieval option chosen.

Here are some common use cases for S3 Glacier:

1. Long-term data archiving: S3 Glacier is designed for long-term data archiving and retention, making it a great option for organizations that need to store data for regulatory or compliance reasons.
2. Digital media archives: S3 Glacier can be used to store and manage digital media archives, such as film and video archives, that require long-term retention and infrequent access.
3. Healthcare data retention: S3 Glacier can be used to store electronic medical records (EMRs) and other healthcare data that needs to be retained for long periods of time for compliance purposes.
4. Financial data retention: S3 Glacier can be used to store financial records, such as tax records and account statements, that need to be retained for a long time for regulatory compliance.
5. Disaster recovery: S3 Glacier can be used as a cost-effective backup storage layer for disaster recovery scenarios, providing a low-cost option for storing data that is rarely accessed but needs to be retained for a long time.

S3 Glacier is a cost-effective storage option for long-term data retention and archiving. While retrieval times can vary depending on the retrieval option chosen, it provides high durability, security, and compliance capabilities, making it a great option for organizations that need to retain data for a long time.

S3 Intelligent Tiering

Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering is a storage class that automatically moves objects between two access tiers based on changing access patterns and frequency. S3 Intelligent Tiering is designed for data with unknown or changing access patterns, where it is difficult to predict which storage class should be used.

Here are some common use cases for S3 Intelligent Tiering:

1. Data lakes: S3 Intelligent-Tiering can be used to store data in a data lake, where access patterns can be unpredictable and difficult to forecast.
2. Backup and disaster recovery: S3 Intelligent-Tiering can be used to store backup and disaster recovery data, where access patterns can be infrequent or unpredictable.
3. Data analytics: S3 Intelligent-Tiering can be used to store data for big data analytics, machine learning, and other data-driven applications that require fast and reliable access to data.
4. Compliance and regulatory storage: S3 Intelligent-Tiering can be used to store compliance and regulatory data that requires fast and reliable access, but also needs to be retained for a long time.
5. Content distribution: S3 Intelligent-Tiering can be used to store and serve static website content, such as images and videos, for content distribution.

S3 Intelligent Tiering is a versatile storage class that automatically moves objects between access tiers based on changing access patterns and frequency. It provides cost savings compared to other storage classes, while still providing fast and reliable access to data.

Summary

Here’s a summary comparison table of the different Amazon S3 storage classes with their respective costs:

Note that pricing can vary based on region, storage amount, data transfer, and other factors. Retrieval fees for S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive depend on the retrieval option chosen and the amount of data retrieved. S3 Intelligent-Tiering also has additional monitoring and automation fees.