Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)Cloud Data SecurityMedium
A cloud service provider offers various data storage options. A customer needs to store infrequently accessed, non-critical log data that must be retained for 7 years for compliance but can tolerate retrieval times of several hours. Cost-efficiency is a primary concern. Which cloud storage class is most appropriate for this scenario?
- ANearline Storage
- BColdline Storage
- CStandard Storage
- DArchival Storage
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Archival Storage
Archival storage (often called 'deep archive' or similar) is designed for very long-term retention of data that is accessed rarely, tolerates high latency for retrieval (hours to days), and offers the lowest cost per gigabyte, fitting the requirements for infrequently accessed, non-critical data with long retention and cost-efficiency.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Nearline storage is for less frequently accessed data (e.g., once a month), with retrieval in minutes, still more expensive than necessary.
- B. Coldline storage is for infrequently accessed data (e.g., once a quarter), with retrieval in minutes, but still not the lowest cost for archival.
- C. Standard storage is for frequently accessed data with low latency, making it too expensive for this use case.
Archival Cloud Storage
A cloud storage class optimized for very long-term retention of data that is accessed extremely infrequently, offering the lowest storage costs but with the highest retrieval latency (often hours to days).
- Lowest cost per GB.
- Highest retrieval latency (hours to days).
- Designed for long-term retention and compliance.
- Suitable for rarely accessed, non-critical data.
Memory trick: Hot for quick, Cold for slow, Archive for forever and cheap.