Amazon S3 offers a variety of storage classes, each optimized for different use cases. Here’s a summary of the primary storage classes:
Storage Class | Use Case | Durability | Availability | Retrieval Time | Cost (per GB) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S3 Standard | Frequently accessed data | 99.999999999% | 99.99% | Immediate | Higher storage cost, low retrieval cost |
S3 Intelligent-Tiering | Variable access patterns (auto-tiering to save costs) | 99.999999999% | 99.9% | Immediate | Higher than Standard if frequently accessed, but saves on infrequent access |
S3 Standard-IA | Infrequently accessed, but required quickly when needed | 99.999999999% | 99.9% | Immediate | Lower storage, higher retrieval cost |
S3 One Zone-IA | Infrequently accessed, non-critical data (single AZ) | 99.999999999% | 99.5% | Immediate | Lower than Standard-IA, same retrieval cost |
S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval | Archived data, immediate access required | 99.999999999% | 99.9% | Immediate | Lower storage, higher retrieval cost |
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval | Archived data, some retrieval flexibility | 99.999999999% | 99.9% | Minutes to hours (selectable) | Very low storage, medium retrieval cost |
S3 Glacier Deep Archive | Long-term, rarely accessed archival | 99.999999999% | 99.9% | Hours | Lowest storage cost, high retrieval cost |
To optimize S3 costs effectively:
Let’s go through some practical scenarios to test your knowledge on storage class selection and cost management.