S3 101

S3 is object based i.e. allows you to upload files only

 Files can be from 0 Bytes to 5 TB
 There is unlimited storage
 Files are stored in buckets (essentially folders)
 S3 is a universal namespace, that is, names must be unique globally.

Data Consistency Model for S3

 Read after Write consistency for PUTS of new Objects (When you create an object you can read
it immediately)
 Eventual Consistency for overwrite PUTS and DELETES (If you update or delete, it can take some
time to propagate the change).

S3 is a simple key, value store. Objects consist of the following

o Key- Simply the name of the object. Stored in alphabetical order
o Value- The data which is made up of a sequence of bytes.
o Version ID – Important for versioning
o Metadata – Data about the data you are storing.
o Subresources- Exist underneath an object. Consist of two things:
 Access Control Lists: Those who can access the info
 Torrent: Support for the BitTorrent protocol

 Charges – You are charged for:

o Storage
o Requests
o Storage Management Pricing
o Data Transfer Pricing – Data coming into S3 is free but moving from one region to
another is done for a price.
 S3 has several tiered storages available
o S3 – 99.99% availability and 11 9’s durability. Designed to sustain the loss of 2 facilities
concurrently.
o S3 – IA (Infrequently Accessed) – Used for data that is accessed less frequently but
requires rapid access when needed. Lower fees than S3 but you are charged a retrieval
fee.
o Reduced Redundancy Storage (RRS) Designed to provide 99.99% durability and
availability of objects over a given year. Only designed to sustain the loss of 1 facility.
o Glacier- Very cheap but is only used for archival only. It takes 3-5 hours to restore from
Glacier. Has a minimum storage duration of 90 days.
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 S3 Transfer Acceleration- Enables fast, easy, and secure transfers of files over long distances
between users and an S3 bucket. Data first arrives from the user to an edge location and is then
routed to Amazon S3 over an optimized network path.

 S3 supports lifecycle management and versioning

 S3 supports Encryption
 You can also secure your data using ACL’s and Bucket Policies