Professional Data EngineerManaging and securing dataMedium
A media company stores large volumes of video archives in Cloud Storage. These archives are frequently accessed for the first 30 days after upload for editing, then rarely accessed for the next 90 days, and finally, after 120 days, they are almost never accessed but must be retained for legal compliance for 5 years. They need to optimize storage costs by automatically transitioning these objects between storage classes. Which Cloud Storage feature should they configure?
- ACloud Storage Transfer Service
- BCloud Storage Access Control Lists (ACLs)
- CCloud Storage Object Lifecycle Management
- DCloud Storage Object Versioning
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Cloud Storage Object Lifecycle Management
Cloud Storage Object Lifecycle Management allows you to define rules to automatically transition objects to cheaper storage classes (e.g., from Standard to Nearline, then to Coldline or Archive) or delete them after a specified period, directly addressing the need for cost optimization based on access patterns and retention policies.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Cloud Storage Transfer Service is for moving data between storage systems, not for automatic class transitions within a bucket.
- B. Cloud Storage Access Control Lists (ACLs) manage permissions, not data lifecycle or storage class transitions.
- D. Cloud Storage Object Versioning keeps historical versions of objects, which increases storage, not optimizes costs by transitioning classes.
Cloud Storage Object Lifecycle Management
A Google Cloud Storage feature that defines rules to automatically manage objects in a bucket, including transitioning them between storage classes or deleting them, based on attributes like age or creation date.
- Automates cost optimization by moving data to cheaper storage classes.
- Can be configured to delete objects after a specified period.
- Rules are applied at the bucket level.
- Supports conditions like age, creation date, number of new versions.
Memory trick: Lifecycle rules save the day, moving objects down the storage way.