AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – AssociateCost and Performance OptimizationEasy
A data analytics team uses Amazon S3 to store raw data files that are frequently accessed by analytical jobs for the first week, then become infrequently accessed over the next month, and eventually are rarely accessed for long-term archiving. The access patterns are highly variable and unpredictable, making it difficult to set fixed lifecycle policies. The company wants to optimize storage costs without manual intervention. Which S3 storage class is best suited for this scenario?
- AS3 One Zone-IA
- BS3 Standard-IA
- CS3 Intelligent-Tiering
- DS3 Glacier Instant Retrieval
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. S3 Intelligent-Tiering
S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between access tiers (frequent, infrequent, archive) based on changing access patterns. This is ideal for unpredictable or changing access, as it optimizes costs without requiring manual lifecycle policies.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. S3 One Zone-IA is for infrequently accessed, non-critical data that can be stored in a single Availability Zone. It doesn't offer automatic tiering.
- B. S3 Standard-IA is for data that is infrequently accessed but requires rapid access. It doesn't automatically move data based on changing patterns.
- D. S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval is for data that is rarely accessed but requires millisecond retrieval. It's a specific tier, not an automatic tiering solution.
S3 Intelligent-Tiering
An S3 storage class that automatically moves data to the most cost-effective access tier based on changing access patterns.
- Optimizes costs without performance impact or operational overhead.
- Suitable for data with unknown, changing, or unpredictable access patterns.
- Includes frequent, infrequent, and optional archive access tiers.
Memory trick: Intelligent-Tiering intuitively optimizes costs for unpredictable patterns.