What are the types of S3 storage in AWS?

Simple Storage Service (S3) stores object-based data. Each object contains metadata and an ID. S3 stores both structured and unstructured data, and the latency for retrieving data varies depending on the type of data and the storage class used. There are six types of S3 storage, which are given below:

S3 Standard

This is the most frequently used type of S3 storage. It is designed for general-purpose storage and is a good choice for storing frequently accessed data, such as website assets, application files, and user-generated content. S3 Standard has a durability of 99.999999999% and an availability of 99.9%. It supports data encryption with the help of server-side encryption (SSE). The cost of using S3 Standard is competitive with other S3 storage classes. The largest object that can be stored in an S3 bucket is 5 TB. Moreover, S3 Standard is designed to be highly durable and available, storing data across multiple Availability Zones. If one Availability Zone is deleted or disrupted, the data stored in S3 Standard will still be available and accessible from the other Availability Zones.

S3 Intelligent-Tiering

Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering is a storage class within Amazon S3 with a specific feature of moving data to the most cost-effective access tier based on the storage life cycle. It automatically stores objects in three access tiers:

• Frequent Access(FA): This tier is optimized for frequently accessed data and provides low latency and high throughput.

• Infrequent Access(IA): This tier is optimized for infrequently accessed data and is more cost-effective than the Frequent Access tier.

• Archive Instant Access: This tier is the most cost-effective and optimized for rarely accessed data.

S3 Intelligent-Tiering observes access patterns and autonomously transitions objects between access tiers without compromising performance. This can help us optimize our storage costs without manually managing the placement of our data.

S3 Standard-Infrequent Access

This type of storage is useful when we do not want our data to be accessed frequently. It is cheaper than the S3 Standard and supports data encryption with the help of server-side encryption (SSE). S3 Standard-IA has a durability of 99.999999999% and an availability of 99.9%. Moreover, S3 Standard-IA is designed in such a way that it is highly durable and available. It also stores data in more than one Availability Zone, so if one is deleted or disrupted, the data stored in others will still be available and accessible.

S3 Glacier Deep Archive

The Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive storage option is typically best suited for data that remains largely untouched and isn’t expected to be accessed frequently. For instance, a vast repository of patient records and diagnostic images dating back many years in a medical clinic. While these records contain valuable historical data, we might rarely need to access them in our day-to-day operations. Storing this data in the Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive ensures it’s readily available for legal purposes while offering incredibly high durability and reliability. Because this data sees infrequent use, it can be efficiently stored using the Glacier Deep Archive option. It is the most cost-friendly storage type and also provides an impressive durability of 99.999999999% and an availability rate of 99.9%. However, the retrieval time is 12hrs.

Amazon Glacier

Amazon Glacier is a storage class within Amazon S3 designed for archiving data accessed infrequently. It is less expensive than Amazon S3 Standard-IA but has longer retrieval times. Data retrieval cost is calculated by measuring the data per GB, but there is no fee for uploading data to Glacier. Amazon Glacier offers two retrieval options: standard and expedited. Standard retrieval takes 3-5 hours to retrieve data, while expedited retrieval takes 1-5 minutes. It also provides an impressive durability of 99.999999999% and an availability rate of 99.9%.

S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access

This storage class within Amazon S3 is designed for storing data that is accessed infrequently and can be stored in a single Availability Zone. It is a good choice for archived data, such as backups, logs, and historical data.

S3 One Zone-IA has a durability of 99.999999999% and an availability of 99.5%. It is also cost-effective, charging a lower storage rate than S3 Standard-IA.

The table below provides a comprehensive overview of the types of S3 storage.