S3 Lifecycle and Pricing

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a scalable object storage service used for various data storage needs such as backup, archive, big data analytics, and more. It offers different storage classes optimized for varying access patterns and cost-effectiveness.

S3 Storage Classes

Amazon S3 provides multiple storage classes to accommodate different use cases and cost requirements:

Storage Class	Description	Use Case
S3 Standard	High durability, availability, and performance.	Frequently accessed data
S3 Intelligent-Tiering	Automatically moves data between two access tiers when access patterns change.	Unknown or changing access patterns
S3 Standard-IA (Infrequent Access)	Lower cost than S3 Standard, with a retrieval fee.	Infrequently accessed data
S3 One Zone-IA	Lower cost than Standard-IA, stores data in a single availability zone.	Infrequently accessed data that can be recreated
S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval	Low-cost archive storage with milliseconds retrieval time.	Data that requires instant retrieval
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval	Low-cost storage for archival data with retrieval times ranging from minutes to hours.	Archival data that does not require immediate access
S3 Glacier Deep Archive	Lowest cost storage for long-term data archiving with retrieval times in hours.	Long-term archiving

S3 Lifecycle Policies

Lifecycle policies help manage your objects and transition them between different storage classes or delete them after a specified time.

Benefits of adding a Lifecycle Policy

• Cost Optimization: Automatically transitions data to lower-cost storage classes based on usage patterns.

• Automated Management: Reduces the need for manual data management, freeing up resources.

• Data Compliance: Helps in meeting data retention policies by automatically deleting outdated objects.

• Efficiency: Ensures efficient use of storage by managing the lifecycle of objects based on defined rules.

Real-Life example of Life Cycle Policies

How to Use Lifecycle Policies

1. Transition Actions: Automatically move objects to a different storage class based on their age or creation date.

2. Expiration Actions: Automatically delete objects after a certain period.

Creating Lifecycle Policies

1. Define a Rule: Specify a rule in your bucket's lifecycle configuration.

2. Set Actions: Choose transition and expiration actions.

3. Apply Filters: Optionally apply filters to limit the scope to certain objects.

Example Lifecycle Policy

A policy to transition objects from S3 Standard to S3 Glacier after 30 days and delete after 365 days:

{
  "Rules": [
    {
      "ID": "ExampleRule",
      "Status": "Enabled",
      "Prefix": "",
      "Transitions": [
        {
          "Days": 30,
          "StorageClass": "GLACIER"
        }
      ],
      "Expiration": {
        "Days": 365
      }
    }
  ]
}

Pricing Overview

Amazon S3 pricing is based on:

• Storage Used: The amount of data stored in your bucket.

• Data Transfer: Data transferred out of S3 to the internet.

• Requests and Retrievals: The number and type of requests made to S3 and retrieval costs for certain storage classes.

• Management and Replication: Costs for using features like S3 Replication or S3 Batch Operations.

Pricing for S3 Storage Classes

S3

Pricing Component	Standard	Intelligent-Tiering	Standard-IA	One Zone-IA
Storage Costs	High, suitable for frequently accessed data	Moderate, varies with access frequency	Lower than Standard, additional retrieval fees	Lower than Standard-IA, single AZ storage
Data Transfer Out	Charges apply for data transferred out of S3	Charges apply for data transferred out of S3	Charges apply for data transferred out of S3	Charges apply for data transferred out of S3
Request Costs	Standard request pricing	Standard request pricing	Lower request pricing	Lower request pricing
Retrieval Costs	No retrieval fees	Varies with access tier (frequent/infrequent)	Charges apply based on retrieval frequency	Charges apply based on retrieval frequency

S3 Glacier

Pricing Component	Instant Retrieval	Flexible Retrieval	Deep Archive
Storage Costs	Low, suitable for archival with instant retrieval	Very low, suitable for archival with varied retrieval times	Lowest, suitable for long-term archival with hours retrieval
Data Transfer Out	Charges apply for data transferred out of S3	Charges apply for data transferred out of S3	Charges apply for data transferred out of S3
Request Costs	Lower request pricing	Lower request pricing	Lower request pricing
Retrieval Costs	Charges apply for data retrieval	Charges apply for data retrieval	Charges apply for data retrieval