Storages
20 questions about S3, EBS, and EFS for exam preparation.
A digital media company stores millions of images in S3. Images are accessed frequently for the first 30 days, occasionally until 90 days, and rarely after but must be retained for 5 years. Which solution minimizes costs most efficiently?
Category: Design Cost-Optimized Architectures
Explanation
Detailed breakdown of the correct answer
S3 Lifecycle Policies
S3 Lifecycle policies allow automating object transitions between storage classes based on defined rules.
This configuration optimizes costs: Standard for initial frequent access, Standard-IA for occasional access, and Glacier for long-term retention with rare access.
Therefore, the correct answer is: Configure Lifecycle Policy: Standard (0-30d) → Standard-IA (30-90d) → Glacier Flexible Retrieval (90d+).
The option that says: Keep everything in S3 Standard for 5 years is incorrect because it's the most expensive option, paying premium prices for rarely accessed data.
The option that says: Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering exclusively is incorrect because it adds monthly monitoring costs per object that may exceed savings for predictable access patterns.
The option that says: Manually move to cheaper classes is incorrect because it's not scalable or efficient, requires constant manual intervention and is error-prone.