Storage Services
AWS Overview Links
Companies today need to collect, store, and analyze the data they’ve accumulated over the years on a massive scale. Storage services in the cloud provide a place for companies to store data.
Amazon Simple Storage Services (Amazon S3)
S3 is an object storage service for the cloud that is highly available.
Objects (or files) are stored in buckets (or directories).
Essentially unlimited storage that can hold millions of objects per bucket.
Objects can upload objects via the console, the CLI, or programmatically from within code using SKDs.
You can set security at the bucket level or individual object level using access control lists (ACLs), bucket policies, or access point policies.
You can enable versioning to create multiple versions of your file in order to protect against accidental deletion and to use a previous version.
You can use S3 access logs to track access to your buckets and objects.
S3 is a regional service, but bucket names must be globally unique.
Data Accessibility
Durability and availability are 2 very different aspects of data accessibility.
Durability: Durability is important so your objects are never lost or compromised. (Amazon S3 Standard is designed for 99.999999999% of durability.
Availability: Availability is important so you cam access your data quickly when you need it. (Amazon S3 Standard is designed for 99.99% availability.)
S3 Storage Classes
Amazon S3 offers several storage classes designed for different use cases.
1. S3 Standard
General-purpose storage
Data stored across multiple Available Zones
Low Latency and high throughput
Recommended for “Frequently accessed data”
Durability: 99.999999999%
Availability: 99.99%
2. S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Automatically moves your data to the most cost-effective storage class
Automatic cost saving
No retrieval fees
Data stored across multiple Availability Zones
Recommended for “Data with unknown or changing access pattern”
Durability: 99.999999999%
Availability: 99.9%
3. S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (IA)
Data is accessed less frequently but requires rapid access
Data stored across multiple Availablity Zones
Cheaper than S3 Standard
Recommended for “Long-lived data, Infrequently accessed, Milisecond access when needed”
Durability: 99.999999999%
Availability: 99.9%
4. S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (IA)
Like S3 Standard-IA but data stored in a single AZ
Costs 20% less than S3 Standard-IA
Data stored in this storage class can be lost
Recommended for “Re-creatable data, Infrequently accessed with millisecond access, Availability, and durability no essential”
Durability: 99.999999999%
Availability: 99.95%
5. S3 Glacier
Long-term data storage and archival for lower costs
Data retrieval takes longer
3 retrieval options: 1-5 minutes, 3-5 hours, or 5-12 hours
Data stored across multiple AZ
Recommended for “Long-term backups, Cheaper storage options”
Durability: 99.999999999%
6. S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Like S3 Glacier but longer access time
2 retrieval options: 12 hours or 48 hours
Cheapest of all S3 options
Data stored across multiple AZ
Recommended for “Long-term data archival accessed once or twice a year, Retaining data for regulatory compliance requirements”
Durability: 99.999999999%
7. S3 Outposts
Provides object storage on-premises
A single storage class
Store data across multiple devices and servers
Recommended for “Data that need to be kept local, Demanding application performance needs”
S3 in the Real World
Static Websites: Deploy static websites to S3 and use CloudFront for global distribution.
Data archive: Archive data using Amazon Glacier as a storage option for Amazon S3.
Analytics systems: Store data in Amazon S3 for use with analytics services like Redshift and Athena.
Mobile applications: Mobile applications users can upload files to Amazon S3 buckets.
Additional Storage Services
Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS)
EBS is storage device (called a volume) that can be attache to (or removed from) your instance.
Data persists when the instance is not running.
Can only be attached to one instance in the same AZ
Tied to one AZ
Recommended for “Quickly accessible data, Running a database on a instance, Long-term data storage”
EC2 Instance Store
An instance store is local storage that is physically attached to the host computer and cannot be removed.
Storage on disks physically attached to an instance
Storage is temporary since data loss occurs when the EC2 instance is stopped
Faster with higher I/O speeds
Recommended for “Temporary storage needs, Data replicated across multiple instances”
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)
EFS is a serverless network file system for sharing files.
Only supports the Linux file system
Accessible across different AZ in the same Region
More expensive than EBS
Recommended for “Main directories for business-critical apps, Lift-and-shift existing enterprise apps”
Storage Gateway
Storage Gateway is a hybrid storage service.
Connect on-premises and cloud data
Support a hybrid model
Recommended for “Moving backups to the cloud, Reducing costs for hybrid cloud storage, Low latency access to data”
AWS Backup
AWS Backup helps you manage data backups across multiple AWS services.
Integrates with resources like EC2, EBS, EFS, and more
Create a backup plan that includes frequency and retention
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