Amazon S3 is known to be a promising, stable, and highly scalable online storage solution. This what is Amazon S3 tutorial will help you get a basic understanding of Amazon S3 from scratch. You’ll also learn how to create an AWS S3 bucket.
The following topics are covered in this blog:
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What Is Amazon S3?
Amazon Simple Storage Service (AWS S3) is a scalable, high-speed, low-cost, and fully managed object storage service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). S3 provides customers with secure and durable storage of their data in the form of objects, which are organized into buckets, and can be accessed through APIs and web-based interfaces.
It is used by businesses of all sizes to store and manage large amounts of data, including images, videos, backups, and other forms of data.
AWS also offers a free tier that includes limited usage of S3. Users can benefit from a certain amount of free storage, data transfer, and requests each month. It’s a great way to get started with the AWS S3 free tier without incurring charges.
What Is an Amazon S3 Bucket?
S3 in Amazon has two primary entities called buckets and objects. Objects are stored inside buckets. Also, it does have a flat hierarchy, not like the one you would find in a file system.
AWS S3 bucket is a cloud-based data storage service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides an unlimited amount of scalable, durable, and secure storage for data, allowing organizations and individuals to store large amounts of data in the cloud.
S3 buckets can be used for a variety of purposes, including file storage, backup and archiving big data analytics, and content distribution.
The buckets are easily accessible from anywhere in the world, making it simple to store, access, and manage data on the cloud. S3 also provides a number of features that make it easy to manage and organize data, such as versioning, lifecycle policies, and access controls.
Additionally, S3 integrates with a number of other AWS services, providing users with a seamless experience for storing and managing data in the cloud. With its reliability, scalability, and security, the S3 bucket is an ideal solution for organizations of all sizes looking to store and manage data in the cloud.
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AWS S3 Pricing
Understanding Amazon S3 pricing is similar to understanding the cost of your digital storage space. The pricing structure revolves around key elements to ensure flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
- Storage Pricing: Amazon S3 charges based on the amount of data you store in your buckets. It’s like renting space in a digital warehouse. The more space you use, the more you pay.
- Request Pricing: Every action you perform in Amazon S3, such as uploading, downloading, or deleting files, incurs a small fee per request. Think of it as a service charge for each task you ask S3 to do.
- Data Transfer Pricing: When data moves in or out of Amazon S3, there are associated costs for data transfer. It’s like paying for shipping when you move your digital items between AWS regions or outside the AWS network.
- Management and Analytics: Amazon S3 provides additional features like versioning, logging, and analytics. While these features enhance functionality, they may come with additional costs. Consider these as optional services that you can choose based on your specific requirements.
- Free Tier: For those starting out or experimenting, Amazon S3 offers a Free Tier, providing a certain amount of storage and data transfer at no cost for the first 12 months. It’s a great way to explore S3’s capabilities without immediate financial commitment.
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Amazon S3 Concepts
Now that you know what is Amazon S3 and what is Amazon S3 bucket, let’s move on and discuss some basic Amazon S3 concepts starting from Data Consistency Models.
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Data Consistency Models
S3 in Amazon provides amazing highly available and durable storage solutions by replicating the data under one bucket in multiple data centers in the region. Also, the data uploaded to an Amazon S3 bucket never leave it until you delete it.
S3 has 2 types in the consistency models:
- read-after-write consistency
- Eventual consistency
Read-after-write consistency for PUTS of new objects in your S3 bucket in all the regions with one limitation. The limitation is that if you perform a GET or HEAD for an object which does not exist then first eventual consistency will be provided.
Eventual consistency is provided by AWS S3 when there are PUT and DELETES in all regions.
Storage Classes
Storage classes are used to distinguish between the use cases of a particular object stored in a bucket.
AWS S3 types are listed below:
| Storage Class | Description |
| Standard | Frequently used objects |
| Standard-IA | Infrequently used objects |
| Intelligent-tiering | Designed to optimize storage costs by choosing Standard and Standard-IA for objects |
| One Zone-IA | Infrequently used objects and non-mission-critical data |
| Glacier | Long-term data archiving with retrieval times ranging from minutes to hours |
| Deep Archive | Archiving and rarely accessing with retrieval times averaging 12 hours |
Object Lifecycle Management
Configuring your object’s lifecycle could ensure they are stored cost-effectively for their entire lifecycle. A lifecycle configuration is a set of rules that define actions that AWS S3 applies to a group of objects. There are two types of actions:
- Transaction Actions
- This action defines objects’ transition from one storage class to another.
- You might have provided your object with a Standard class at first, then after 2 months you want to make it Standard-IA, and after a year you want to keep it in Amazon Glacier.
- Expiration Actions
- This action deletes objects in the Amazon S3 bucket.
- Also, S3 deletes the expired objects on your behalf.
But you might think, why do you need a lifecycle for the objects? Check out these examples.
- You wanted to store log data for the month of April for services; you might need it for a week or a month, and then you might want to delete it.
- You have objects which are frequently used for a week and then they become infrequent. After that, once the usage for it has reduced to the rock bottom, you can archive it and then delete it.
- You also might store data for long-term archiving
Object Versioning
Object versioning provides the flexibility of storing objects with the same name by giving objects version numbers. This prevents unintended overwriting or deletion of the objects.
For example, you have a file called image.jpg with the versioning of 111, and now you are uploading another file named image.jpg, again. So, the newly uploaded image.jpg file will have a versioning of 222. So, they are image.jpg (version 111) and image.jpg (version 222).
Versioning can also be used so that you can compare the older versions of the file.
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Encryption
Using S3 default encryption you can set the default encrypted behavior for an Amazon S3 bucket. You can also create a default encryption where every object gets encrypted when stored in a bucket. The objects are encrypted using server-side encryption with either Amazon S3-managed keys (SSE-S3) or AWS KMS-managed keys (SSE-KMS).
Amazon S3 Features
Amazon S3, or Simple Storage Service, is more than just a digital storage space, it’s an efficient platform with features designed to enhance data management and accessibility.
- Scalability: Amazon S3 grows with you. Whether you’re a startup or an enterprise, S3 scales effortlessly to accommodate any amount of data. It’s like having a magical backpack that expands to fit all your digital belongings.
- Durability and Reliability: Your data is safe with Amazon S3. It automatically stores copies of your files across multiple locations, ensuring durability and reliability. Think of it as having your important documents saved in multiple secure vaults.
- Versioning: S3 allows you to keep track of changes to your files with versioning. It’s like having a time-travel feature for your data, enabling you to restore previous versions and recover from accidental deletions.
- Security Features: Security is a priority with S3. You can control who has access to your data, encrypt your files, and set up access policies. It’s like having a high-tech lock and key for your digital storage unit.
- Data Transfer Acceleration: Need your data in a hurry? S3 offers Transfer Acceleration, ensuring speedy data transfers. It’s like upgrading from regular mail to express delivery for your digital files.
- Management Tools: Amazon S3 provides tools to help you organize and manage your data effectively. With features like tagging and metadata, it’s like having a virtual assistant that helps you categorize and find your files effortlessly.
- Cost Management: S3 offers features for cost-conscious users. You can choose storage classes based on your data access patterns, helping you optimize costs. It’s like having a budget-friendly plan for your digital storage needs.
AWS S3 CLI Commands
Getting Amazon S3 becomes effortless with a handful of simple commands. These S3 CLI commands, often used in the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), empower you to manage your S3 buckets and objects seamlessly.
- Creating a Bucket: aws s3 mb s3:
- Uploading a File: aws s3 cp your-file.txt s3:
- Listing Contents: aws s3 ls s3:
- Downloading a File: aws s3 cp s3:
- Deleting a File: aws s3 rm s3:
- Syncing Folders: aws s3 sync your-local-folder/ s3:
Advantages of AWS S3 Service
- Scalability on Demand
- If you want your application’s scalability varying according to the change in traffic, then AWS S3 is a very good option.
- Scaling up or down is just mouse-clicks away when you use other attractive features of AWS.
- Content Storage and Distribution
- S3 in Amazon could be used as the foundation for a Content Delivery Network. Because Amazon S3 is developed for content storage and distribution.
- Big Data and Analytics on Amazon S3
- Amazon QuickSight UI can be connected with Amazon S3, and then large amounts of data can be analyzed with it.
- Backup and Archive
- Whether you need timely backups of your website, or store static files for once, or store versions of files you are currently working on. S3 in Amazon has got you covered.
- Disaster Recovery
- Storing data in multiple availability zones in a region gives the user the flexibility to recover files, which are lost, as soon as possible. Also, the cross-region replication technology can be used to store in any number of Amazon’s worldwide data centers.
Enough with the theory. Now, moving on with this Amazon S3 tutorial, let us see how to create a S3 bucket in Amazon Web Services
Create S3 Bucket in AWS
Step 1: Login to the AWS Management Console
Step 2: Select S3 from the Services section
Step 3: Click on the Create bucket button to start with creating an AWS S3 bucket
Step 4: Now, provide a unique Bucket name and select the Region in which the bucket should exist. After providing the details click on Next
Step 5: Next is Configure options, and there is no need to provide any details here. You can just click on Next
- But if you want to track costs for this bucket, provide a tag to identify it
- Also, you can choose Versioning. Check the Versioning section of this blog to learn what versioning provides
Step 6: In permissions, keep all checkboxes ticked. This makes the objects in your bucket inaccessible for the public
Step 7: Review once and click on Create bucket
You have successfully created an S3 bucket using Amazon Web Services! This brings us to the end of this Amazon S3 Tutorial.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Amazon S3 is a highly efficient and versatile cloud storage solution that offers multiple benefits to its users. Its scalability, reliability, security features, and integration with other AWS services make it a popular choice for businesses and individuals who need to store and access large amounts of data.
Whether you are looking to back up critical data, host a website, or run big data analytics, S3 provides a range of options to meet your needs. Additionally, S3 is cost-effective, making it an accessible solution for those with limited budgets. Overall, S3 is a valuable tool for anyone looking to leverage the power of cloud storage.