Amazon S3 data storage includes a wide range of object storage classes designed for different use cases. These different storage classes or tiers ensure that you are only paying for what you need. In this article, we will provide a detailed overview of the various Amazon S3 storage tiers and delve into lifecycle management to help prepare you for the AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C02) exam.
S3 Storage Tiers
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S3 Standard
Designed for general-purpose storage, S3 Standard offers high durability, availability, and performance object storage for frequently accessed data. It can be used for big data analytics, mobile and gaming applications, and content distribution.
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S3 Intelligent-Tiering
This storage class is designed for customers who want to optimize costs automatically when data access patterns change. It has two access tiers: frequent and infrequent. Amazon S3 monitors access patterns of the objects, and moves objects that have not been accessed for 30 consecutive days to the infrequent access tier.
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S3 Standard-IA & One Zone-IA
S3 Standard-IA (Infrequent Access) and One Zone-IA are designed for data that is infrequently accessed but requires rapid access when needed. The difference is that One Zone-IA stores data in a single AZ, which costs 20% less than Standard-IA, but does not provide the same level of resilience.
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S3 Glacier & Glacier Deep Archive
Amazon S3 Glacier and Glacier Deep Archive are secure, durable, and low-cost Amazon S3 cloud storage classes for data archiving and long-term backup. S3 Glacier is suitable for archiving data where occasional, quick retrieval (within minutes) is required, while the S3 Glacier Deep Archive is ideal for storing data that will rarely be accessed (can tolerate retrieval times of up to 12 hours).
Lifecycle Management
Lifecycle management in Amazon S3 allows you to automate the transition of objects between different storage classes at defined intervals. It also lets you automate the expiration (i.e., deletion) of objects, reducing the hassle of managing decommissioning data.
For example, you can set up a lifecycle rule to automatically transition objects from S3 Standard to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, then to Glacier after 90 days, and finally delete after 365 days.
{
"Rules": [
{
"ID": "MoveToIA",
"Status": "Enabled",
"Prefix": "",
"Transitions": [
{
"Days": 30,
"StorageClass": "STANDARD_IA"
},
{
"Days": 90,
"StorageClass": "GLACIER"
}
],
"Expiration": {
"Days": 365
}
}
]
}
This JSON-formatted lifecycle policy specifies the transition of objects to different storage tiers at defined intervals and their eventual expiration.
In conclusion, understanding S3 storage tiers and lifecycle management is an essential component of the AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C02) exam. It will also help optimize your storage costs and automate much of your data management on AWS.
Practice Test
True or False: Amazon S3 Glacier deep storage tier is the lowest-cost storage class and supports long-term retention and archival of data.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: S3 Glacier Deep Archive is Amazon S3’s lowest-cost storage class and supports a long-term retention and digital preservation for data archiving.
What is the minimum storage duration period for AWS S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class?
- A) 0 days
- B) 30 days
- C) 60 days
- D) 90 days
Answer: B) 30 days
Explanation: There is a minimum storage duration of 30 days for objects in the AWS S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class.
True or False: S3 Standard is the most expensive tier among all the S3 storage classes.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: S3 Standard offers high durability, availability, and performance object storage for frequently accessed data. However, it is the most expensive storage class compared to others.
The lifecycle management in S3 allows you to:
- A) Define when objects expire
- B) Transition objects to other storage classes
- C) Clean up incomplete multipart uploads
- D) All of above
Answer: D) All of above
Explanation: S3’s lifecycle management offers all these capabilities in handling stored objects.
Which storage tier is best suited for infrequently accessed data that can be retrieved rapidly when needed?
- A) S3 Standard
- B) S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- C) S3 Standard-IA
- D) S3 Glacier
Answer: C) S3 Standard-IA
Explanation: S3 Standard-IA is for data that is accessed less frequently, but it requires rapid access when needed.
True or False: You can transition objects between S3 storage classes using lifecycle configuration requests.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon S3 lifecycle configuration enables you to specify the lifecycle management of objects in a bucket, including transitioning objects between storage classes.
In lifecycle management, to move an object to Glacier storage class, the object must be in the bucket for at least:
- A) 30 days
- B) 7 days
- C) 60 days
- D) 90 days
Answer: C) 60 days
Explanation: Objects must be in the bucket for at least 60 days before transitioning to Glacier storage class according to Amazon S3 Lifecycle management.
True or False: The One Zone-IA storage class is not suitable for storing mission-critical information.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: One Zone-IA stores data in a single AZ, thus it is less resilient to data loss and is not suitable for storing mission-critical information.
Which of the following is not a storage class in Amazon S3?
- A) S3 Standard
- B) S3 Enterprise
- C) S3 Standard-IA
- D) S3 Glacier
Answer: B) S3 Enterprise
Explanation: There is no such thing as S3 Enterprise. The storage classes available are S3 Standard, S3 Standard-IA, S3 Glacier, etc.
True or False: You cannot change the storage class of an object already stored in a S3 bucket.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: You can change the storage class of an object already stored in an S3 bucket. The transition process is handled by AWS through lifecycle policies.
S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive are designed for:
- A) Frequently accessed data
- B) Data archiving
- C) Active data
- D) Transient data
Answer: B) Data archiving
Explanation: S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive are designed for long-term storage, backups, and archives. They can retain data for long periods of time at a very low cost.
What feature of S3 allows automatic data archiving to the most appropriate storage class?
- A) S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- B) S3 Multizone-IA
- C) S3 Standard-IA
- D) S3 Glacier
Answer: A) S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Explanation: S3 Intelligent-Tiering optimizes costs by automatically moving data to the most cost-effective access tier, without performance impact or operational overhead.
True or False: You can define a lifecycle rule in Amazon S3 to delete an object after a certain number of days.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: You can define a lifecycle rule in Amazon S3 to delete an object after a certain time period has passed.
Which storage class offers the same durability as Standard S3, but costs less and charges a retrieval fee?
- A) S3 Glacier
- B) S3 Standard-IA
- C) S3 Redundant
- D) S3 Frequent
Answer: B) S3 Standard-IA
Explanation: The S3 Standard-IA storage class offers the same durability as Standard S3, but with a lower cost and a retrieval fee.
True or False: Amazon S3’s lifecycle policies can be used for automating the migration of objects between the different storage classes.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon S3’s Lifecycle policies can be used to define actions you want Amazon S3 to take during an object’s lifetime, like transitioning objects to other storage classes, archiving them, or deleting them after a specified period of time.
Interview Questions
What is Amazon S3’s lifecycle management?
Amazon S3’s lifecycle management enables customers to manage and automatically migrate their objects between different storage tiers, or to schedule deletions in accordance with business, legal, or regulatory requirements.
Name the storage tiers available in Amazon S3.
Amazon S3 offers six storage tiers:
- Amazon S3 Standard
- Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- Amazon S3 Standard-IA (Infrequent Access)
- Amazon S3 One Zone-IA
- Amazon S3 Glacier
- Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
When would you use Amazon S3 Standard-IA (Infrequent Access)?
Use Amazon S3 Standard-IA for data that is accessed less frequently, but requires rapid access when needed. It has a lower storage cost than Amazon S3 Standard, but charges a retrieval fee.
When is it most cost-effective to use the Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class?
It is most cost-effective to use the Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class when the access patterns for your data are unpredictable, and the data is stored for minimum of 30 days.
What is Amazon S3 One Zone-IA?
Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (One Zone-IA) stores data in a single AZ and is designed for customers who want a lower-cost option for infrequently accessed data but do not require the availability and resilience of S3 Standard or S3 Standard-IA.
When would you typically use Amazon S3 Glacier?
You would typically use Amazon S3 Glacier for archive and backup data that is infrequently accessed and long-lived, where retrieval times of several hours are acceptable.
What is the role of lifecycle configuration in an Amazon S3 bucket?
Lifecycle configuration of an Amazon S3 bucket enables automation of the migration of objects between different Amazon S3 storage classes at defined times, or the automatic deletion of objects after a specified period.
How do you apply lifecycle rules to all objects in an S3 bucket?
To apply lifecycle rules to all the objects in a S3 bucket, you would leave the prefix field empty when creating the rule.
Can you modify the lifecycle policy of an existing S3 bucket?
Yes, the lifecycle policy of an existing S3 bucket can be changed or completely removed by overwriting the existing Lifecycle Configuration.
Can you restore objects that have been transitioned to Glacier by S3 Lifecycle Policies?
Yes, once objects are transitioned to Glacier by S3 Lifecycle Policies they can be restored temporarily in S3 for access. However, you will incur a restore fee.
What are the two types of transitions you can set in your Lifecycle Policies?
The two types of transitions are transition actions, which define when objects transition to another storage class, and expiration actions, which define when objects expire and Amazon S3 deletes them.
Do the transition and expiration actions in a single lifecycle policy operate independently of one another?
Yes, transition and expiration actions in the same lifecycle policy operate independently of each other.
Can you apply lifecycle configuration to all versions of an object?
Yes, when versioning is enabled on a bucket, you can apply lifecycle configuration to all versions of an object.
Can Amazon S3’s lifecycle management policy be used to automatically clean up incomplete multi-part uploads?
Yes, one of the features of S3’s lifecycle management is the ability to define a lifecycle configuration that tells Amazon S3 to periodically clean up incomplete multi-part uploads.
Is there any cost involved in lifecycle transitions in Amazon S3?
Yes, while there is no cost to create a lifecycle policy, there are costs associated with the retrieval of objects and data transfer during lifecycle transitions.
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