What is Amazon S3?
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is the leading object storage service from AWS and one of the most widely used cloud storage solutions worldwide. S3 stores data as objects in buckets and offers virtually unlimited scalability: from a few gigabytes to exabytes. Millions of enterprises use S3 as the foundation for data lakes, backup systems, content delivery, big data analytics, and machine learning workflows.
The S3 architecture is designed for extreme reliability: with 99.999999999% durability (11 nines), the probability of data loss is virtually eliminated. Data is distributed redundantly across at least three physically separated Availability Zones by default.
Core Features
- Unlimited Scalability: Store any amount of data from gigabytes to exabytes
- 11 Nines Durability: 99.999999999% data durability across multiple AZs
- 8 Storage Classes: From high performance to cost optimized archiving
- Intelligent Tiering: Automatic cost optimization based on access patterns
- Security: Encryption, access control, versioning, and Object Lock for WORM
Typical Use Cases
Data Lakes
Use Amazon S3 as the central platform for your data lake. Store structured and unstructured data in any quantity and analyze it with AWS analytics services like Amazon Athena, Amazon EMR, AWS Glue, and Amazon Redshift Spectrum. S3 currently stores over 350 trillion objects.
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Amazon S3 is excellent for backup and disaster recovery scenarios. Benefit from 11 nines durability, automatic versioning to protect against accidental deletion, S3 Lifecycle Policies for cost optimized long term archiving, and Cross Region Replication for geographic redundancy.
Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning
S3 as the foundation for analytics workloads: integrated with Amazon Athena for serverless SQL queries, Amazon EMR for Apache Spark and Hadoop, AWS Glue for ETL, and Amazon SageMaker for ML training and inference.
Advantages
- Virtually unlimited storage capacity
- Industry leading 11 nines durability
- Automatic cost optimization with Intelligent Tiering
- Deep integration with AWS analytics and ML services
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with Amazon S3: data lake architecture, migration with AWS DataSync, lifecycle policy design, cost optimization through storage class analysis, and GDPR compliant implementation in EU regions.
Available Tiers & Options
S3 Standard
- High performance
- Low latency
- Higher cost for infrequent access
S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- Automatic cost optimization
- No retrieval fees
- Small monitoring fee
S3 Glacier
- Very low cost
- Long-term archive
- Retrieval time
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Amazon S3?
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is a highly scalable object storage service from AWS. S3 stores data as objects in buckets and offers industry leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. With 99.999999999% durability, S3 is one of the most reliable cloud storage solutions worldwide.
Which S3 Storage Class should I choose?
The choice depends on your access pattern: S3 Standard for frequently accessed data, S3 Intelligent Tiering for unknown access patterns, S3 Standard IA for infrequently accessed data with fast access, S3 Glacier for archives with retrieval in minutes to hours, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive for the lowest cost long term archiving.
Is Amazon S3 GDPR compliant?
Yes, Amazon S3 is available in EU regions (Frankfurt, Ireland, Paris, Stockholm, Milan, Spain) and can be operated GDPR compliant. AWS provides data processing agreements, EU standard contractual clauses, and appropriate certifications. You can restrict data residency to EU regions.
How secure is my data in Amazon S3?
Amazon S3 offers comprehensive security features: default encryption at rest, SSL/TLS for data transfer, object versioning to protect against accidental deletion, MFA Delete, S3 Object Lock for WORM compliance, detailed access control via IAM policies, bucket policies and ACLs, and S3 Block Public Access.