AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02)Cloud Technology and ServicesMedium
A retail analytics company stores customer usage logs with highly unpredictable and changing access patterns—some objects are accessed daily for weeks, then not touched for months, with no way to predict which. The company wants AWS to automatically move objects between access tiers to optimize cost without manual lifecycle rules. Which S3 storage class should they use?
- AS3 Intelligent-Tiering
- BS3 Standard-IA
- CS3 Glacier Instant Retrieval
- DS3 One Zone-IA
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. S3 Intelligent-Tiering
S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between frequent, infrequent, and archive access tiers based on changing access patterns, without operational overhead or retrieval fees, making it ideal for unpredictable workloads.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Standard-IA requires manual selection and charges retrieval fees; it doesn't auto-adjust tiers.
- C. Glacier Instant Retrieval is a fixed archival tier meant for rarely accessed data, not automatic tiering.
- D. One Zone-IA is a fixed tier with reduced resilience, not adaptive to changing patterns.
S3 Intelligent-Tiering
An S3 storage class that automatically moves objects between access tiers based on changing access patterns to optimize storage cost.
- No retrieval fees for tier changes
- Ideal for unpredictable or unknown access patterns
- Monitors access and moves objects automatically
Memory trick: Intelligent-Tiering is the auto-pilot for unpredictable data.