What is AWS S3 and storage classes in AWS S3?

Tudip

20 May 2020

AWS Storage Classes

• S3 storage classes are accustomed assist the concurrent loss of information in few facilities
• S3 storage classes maintain the integrity of the information using some checksums
• S3 provides lifecycle management for the automated migration of objects for cost saving

S3 contains four types of storage classes:

1. S3 Standard
2. S3 Standard IA
3. S3 one zone-infrequent access
4. S3 Glacier

1. S3 Standard

   • Standard is a default storage class if no other storage class is specified during upload.
   • Standard storage class stores the data redundancy across multiple devices in multiple facilities.
   • It is designed to sustain the loss of two facilities concurrently.
   • It provides low latency and high throughput performance.
   • It is designed for 99.99% availability and 99.999999999% durability.
2. S3 Standard IA
   
   • IA stands for infrequently accessed.
   • Standard IA storage class is used when data is accessed less frequently but requires fast access when needed.
   • It has a lower fee than S3 standard, but you will be charged for a retrieval fee.
   • It is designed to sustain the loss of two different facilities concurrently.
   • It is mainly used for larger objects greater than 128 KB kept for a minimum 30 days.
   • It provides low latency and high throughput performance.
   • It is designed for 99.99% availability and 99.999999999% durability.

3. S3 one zone-infrequent access

   • S3 one zone non frequent access storage class is used when data is accessed less frequently but requires rapid access when needed.
   • It stores the data in a single availability zone while other storage classes store the data in a minimum of three available zones. Due to this reason, its cost is 20% less than Standard IA.
   • It is an optimal choice for the less frequently accessed data but does not require the availability of Standard IA or Standard storage class.
   • It is a good choice for storing backup data.
   • It is cost-effective storage which is replicated from other AWS regions using S3 Cross Region replication.
   • It has the same durability as S3 standard IA, high performance, and low latency, with a low storage price and low retrieval data fee.
   • It is designed for 99.5% availability and 99.999999999% durability of objects in a single availability zone.
   • It uses lifecycle management for the automatic migration of objects to other S3 storage classes.
   • The data can be lost at the time of the destruction of an available zone as it stores the data in a single availability zone.

4. S3 Glacier

   • S3 Glacier storage class is the cheapest aws storage class, but it can be used for archival.
   • You can store any amount of data at a lower cost than other aws storage classes.
     S3 Glacier provides three types of models:
     • Expedited: In this model, data is stored for a few minutes, and it has a higher fee.
     • Standard: The retrieval time of the standard model is 3 – 5 hours.
     • Bulk: The retrieval time of the bulk model is 5 – 12 hours.
   • You can upload the objects directly to the S3 Glacier storage class.
   • It is designed for 99.999999999% durability of objects across multiple availability zones.