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How to Save Money with AWS S3

Picture of Jonatan Redvik

AWS S3 (Simple Storage Service) is a highly scalable, reliable, and cost-effective object storage service. When used wisely, it can save businesses significant amounts on storage costs. Here's how:

  1. Use the Right Storage Class:

    • S3 Standard: For frequently accessed data.
    • S3 Infrequent Access (IA): For data accessed less frequently but requires rapid access when needed. Costs less than Standard.
    • S3 One Zone-IA: Stored in a single availability zone and costs less than IA.
    • S3 Glacier & Glacier Deep Archive: For archiving data. Retrieval times range from minutes to hours, but the cost is much lower.

  2. Implement Lifecycle Policies:

    • Automatically transition objects between storage classes.
    • Expire objects that are no longer needed.

  3. Enable Object Versioning Wisely:

    • While it's a great backup tool, storing multiple versions of an object can increase costs. Prune old versions regularly.

  4. Compress Data Before Storing:

    • Reduces the amount of storage used.
    • S3 supports GZIP and BZIP2 compression.

  5. Delete Unneeded Data:

    • Regularly review and delete outdated or unnecessary data.

  6. Take Advantage of S3 Select:

    • Instead of retrieving the entire object, use S3 Select to retrieve only the data you need.

  7. Optimize Data Transfer:

    • Reduce costs by minimizing data transferred out of S3. Use caching or Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) like AWS CloudFront.

  8. Secure Your Buckets:

    • Avoid unexpected charges by preventing unauthorized access or accidental data deletions.

  9. Consider Using S3 Intelligent-Tiering:

  • It automatically moves objects between two access tiers (frequent and infrequent) based on changing access patterns.

By implementing these strategies, businesses can optimize their AWS S3 costs and ensure they're only paying for what they truly need.

AWS S3 is an incredibly flexible tool. However, its cost-saving potential is only realized when you actively manage and optimize your usage.

Cloud Family has extensive knowledge from 10 years with AWS. Contact us if you want to discuss more in detail.

 
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