AWS part → 12 Types of S3 Storage

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Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) provides various storage classes that cater to different data storage requirements. Here are the storage classes offered by Amazon S3, along with explanations in easy language:

1. Standard: The Standard storage class is designed for frequently accessed data that requires high durability, availability, and low latency. It is suitable for a wide range of use cases, such as websites, mobile applications, and enterprise applications. With Standard storage, your data is distributed across multiple devices and facilities to ensure durability and availability.
2. Intelligent-Tiering: Intelligent-Tiering is a storage class that automatically optimizes costs by moving objects between two access tiers: frequent access and infrequent access. It analyzes the access patterns of your data and moves it to the appropriate tier based on its usage. This storage class is useful when you have data with unpredictable access patterns and want to optimize costs without manual intervention.
3. Standard-IA (Infrequent Access): Standard-IA is designed for data that is accessed less frequently but still requires immediate access when needed. It offers a lower storage price compared to the Standard class, but with a higher retrieval fee. Standard-IA is suitable for backup and restore data, disaster recovery, or long-term storage of infrequently accessed data.
4. One Zone-IA: One Zone-IA is similar to Standard-IA but stores data in a single availability zone instead of spreading it across multiple zones. This storage class provides a lower-cost option for infrequently accessed data that doesn’t require the same level of availability as the Standard-IA class. It’s a good choice for secondary backups, easily reproducible data, or data that can be recreated if lost.
5. Glacier: Glacier is a very low-cost storage class for data archiving and long-term backup purposes. It offers durable storage with retrieval times ranging from minutes to hours. Glacier is suitable for data that is rarely accessed but needs to be stored for compliance, regulatory, or historical purposes. Retrieving data from Glacier may take longer, so it’s not ideal for frequently accessed data.
6. Glacier Deep Archive: Glacier Deep Archive is the most cost-effective storage class for data archiving. It provides the lowest storage cost among all Amazon S3 storage classes, with retrieval times ranging from hours to days. Glacier Deep Archive is suitable for long-term data retention, such as financial records, healthcare records, and media archives, where fast access is not required.

These storage classes offer flexibility in managing your data based on its access patterns, cost considerations, and required availability. By choosing the appropriate storage class for your data, you can optimize costs while ensuring data durability, availability, and performance as per your specific needs.

Specifications of each storage

Here are the storage classes offered by Amazon S3 with more detailed explanations and specifications:

1. Standard:

• Durability: 99.999999999% (11 nines) of objects are durably stored.
• Availability: Designed to provide 99.99% availability of objects over a given year.
• Latency: Offers low-latency access for frequently accessed data.
• Use Cases: Suitable for a wide range of use cases, including websites, mobile applications, and enterprise applications.
• Pricing: Standard pricing applies, which includes storage costs and per-request costs.

2. Intelligent-Tiering:

• Durability and Availability: Same as the Standard storage class.
• Automatic Tiering: Automatically moves objects between two access tiers based on access patterns: frequent access and infrequent access.
• Use Cases: Suitable when you have data with unpredictable access patterns and want to optimize costs without manual intervention.
• Pricing: In addition to storage costs and per-request costs, Intelligent-Tiering also has monitoring and automation fees.

3. Standard-IA (Infrequent Access):

• Durability and Availability: Same as the Standard storage class.
• Pricing: Lower storage price compared to Standard, but with a higher per-GB retrieval fee.
• Use Cases: Backup and restore data, disaster recovery, or long-term storage of infrequently accessed data.
• Retrieval Time: Objects can be accessed immediately when needed.
• Minimum Storage Duration: 30 days.

4. One Zone-IA:

• Durability: Same as the Standard-IA storage class.
• Availability: Data is stored in a single availability zone, providing 99.5% availability.
• Pricing: Lower storage price compared to Standard-IA.
• Use Cases: Secondary backups, easily reproducible data, or data that can be recreated if lost.
• Retrieval Time: Objects can be accessed immediately when needed.
• Minimum Storage Duration: 30 days.

5. Glacier:

• Durability: 99.999999999% durability.
• Availability: Expedited, Standard, and Bulk retrieval options with varying retrieval times.
• Pricing: Lower storage cost compared to other storage classes, with additional retrieval and data transfer costs.
• Use Cases: Data archiving and long-term backups.
• Retrieval Time: Ranging from minutes to hours, depending on the retrieval option chosen.
• Minimum Storage Duration: 90 days.

6. Glacier Deep Archive:

• Durability: 99.999999999% durability.
• Availability: Expedited, Standard, and Bulk retrieval options with varying retrieval times.
• Pricing: Lowest storage cost among all storage classes, with additional retrieval and data transfer costs.
• Use Cases: Long-term data retention, compliance, regulatory, or historical purposes.
• Retrieval Time: Ranging from hours to days, depending on the retrieval option chosen.
• Minimum Storage Duration: 180 days.

By considering the durability, availability, latency, pricing, retrieval times, and specific use cases of each storage class, you can choose the most suitable option for your data storage needs on Amazon S3.