AWS Certified Security – SpecialtyDomain 5: Data ProtectionEasy
A research institution is storing petabytes of genomic data in Amazon S3. This data is rarely accessed after its initial upload and processing, but must be retained for at least 10 years for compliance reasons. The institution needs to minimize storage costs while ensuring data integrity and durability. Which S3 storage class is the most cost-effective solution for this scenario?
- AAmazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval
- BAmazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
- CAmazon S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA)
- DAmazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive is designed for long-term archival and is the lowest-cost storage class in S3. Given the requirement for 10-year retention and rare access, it perfectly aligns with minimizing storage costs while providing high durability.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval is for archival data that needs millisecond retrieval, making it more expensive than Deep Archive when instant access is not a primary concern.
- C. S3 Standard-IA is for data accessed less frequently but requires rapid access when needed. It's more expensive than Glacier classes for long-term, rarely accessed archives.
- D. S3 One Zone-IA is for infrequently accessed data that can tolerate availability in a single Availability Zone, making it cheaper than Standard-IA but not as cost-effective as Glacier Deep Archive for long-term archival, and with lower durability guarantees.
S3 Glacier Deep Archive
The lowest-cost Amazon S3 storage class designed for long-term data archival that is accessed rarely (e.g., once or twice a year) and can tolerate retrieval times of several hours.
- Offers the lowest storage price in S3.
- Suitable for data retained for 7-10 years or more.
- Retrieval times typically range from 12 to 48 hours.
- Provides 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability across multiple Availability Zones.
Memory trick: Deep Archive for Deep Sleep Data.