What Are Amazon S3’s Various Storage Class Options?

S3 has six distinct storage-classes, each with unique features related to cost, availability, performance, and durability. Based on the frequency of access the length of the retention period, and the affordability of your data, you may select the storage class that best meets your requirements.

The following six storage classes are:

• S3 Standard: This is the most widely used and default storage class for S3. For frequently accessed data, it provides high performance, high durability, and high availability. It works well for general-purpose storage tasks including media file serving, internet-hosting, and backup storage.
• S3 Intelligent-Tiering : Based on access patterns this intelligent storage class automatically switches your data between two access levels. The two categories are called S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-Infrequent Access) and Frequent Access (S3 Standard) respectively. This storage class minimizes your expenses without sacrificing performance or availability, making it perfect for data with erratic ,fluctuating access patterns.
• S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard – 1A): For data that needs excellent performance and availability but is accessed less frequently S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) is an affordable storage class. It is appropriate for long-term data archiving, disaster recovery, and backup storage.
• S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone – 1A): This is a less expensive, less durable, and less available variant of S3 Standard- 1A. It is more susceptible to data loss in the event of a zone failure since it only stores your data in one Availability Zone rather than several. It works well with data that can be readily replicated and is used infrequently, such as test data, trans-coded media files, and thumbnails.
• S3 Glacier: This is an extremely affordable storage class that can withstand extended retrieval times for data that is not frequently accessed. Long-term archival storage of data including historical records, compliance files, and research data, is appropriate for it. It provides three retrieval options : Bulk, Standard, and Expedited, each with a distinct cost and speed.
• S3 Glacier Deep Archive: The cheapest cloud storage option is the S3 Glacier Deep Archive, which is also the least expensive storage class in S3. It can withstand retrieval times of up to 12 hours and is meant for data that is accessed once or twice a year. It is appropriate for the long-term preservation of archive materials, including financial, legal, and cultural data.
• Storage Classes Pricing Of Amazon S3 In Asia Pacific Region

The table below summarizes the main features and pricing of each storage class, as of February 2024, for the Asia Pacific (Mumbai) region. For other regions, please refer to the AWS S3 pricing page.

Welcome to the AWS (Amazon Web Services) world, where cloud computing is at the forefront of technical advancement. Amazon Simple Storage Service commonly known as Amazon S3, is a widely used object storage service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). You can store and retrieve any volume of data at any time from any location on the internet. S3 can be used for several things including data archiving, backup storage, media file serving, static website hosting, and more.