A media company uses Amazon S3 to store petabytes of video content. Most of this content is accessed frequently for the first 30 days after upload, then occasionally for the next 90 days, and rarely thereafter, but must be retained indefinitely. To optimize storage costs, the SysOps Administrator needs to implement an automated lifecycle policy. Which S3 storage class transition policy provides the most cost-effective solution for this access pattern?
- ATransition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 120 days.
- BTransition to S3 Intelligent-Tiering after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 120 days.
- CTransition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 120 days.
- DTransition to S3 One Zone-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval after 120 days.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Transition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 120 days.
This scenario requires a tiered approach. S3 Standard-IA is cost-effective for data accessed occasionally (after 30 days). For rarely accessed, indefinitely retained data (after 120 days), S3 Glacier Deep Archive offers the lowest cost per GB, aligning with the infrequent access and indefinite retention. S3 Intelligent-Tiering would work but might be more expensive than manual transitions if access patterns are predictable. Glacier Flexible Retrieval is more expensive than Deep Archive, and One Zone-IA lacks multi-AZ resilience.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. S3 Intelligent-Tiering is good for unknown or changing access patterns but might be less cost-optimized than explicit transitions for predictable patterns. Transitioning to Glacier Deep Archive after 120 days is good for the rarely accessed, indefinite retention phase.
- C. S3 Standard-IA is good for occasional access. S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval (formerly S3 Glacier) is more expensive per GB than Glacier Deep Archive and has higher retrieval costs, making it less cost-effective for rarely accessed, indefinite retention.
- D. S3 One Zone-IA is cheaper than Standard-IA but is not resilient to AZ loss, which is generally not suitable for critical video content. S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval is for millisecond retrieval, not the lowest cost for rarely accessed, indefinite retention.
S3 Lifecycle for Cost Optimization
S3 Lifecycle policies automate the transition of objects to different storage classes or their expiration, based on defined rules, to optimize storage costs according to access patterns.
- Automates storage class transitions.
- Reduces costs by moving data to cheaper tiers.
- Based on object age or other criteria.
- Can also be used for object expiration.
- Requires understanding of S3 storage class access patterns and costs.
Memory trick: S3 Lifecycle: Move your data down the 'cost ladder' as it gets older and colder.