Question #1145
A research institution needs to minimize storage costs for its extensive dataset stored in Amazon S3 Standard. The data must be retained for at least 30 years, with information from the most recent 3 years requiring immediate accessibility and high availability. Which solution meets these requirements?
Configure an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition objects to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval immediately.
Configure an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 3 years.
Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering with the archive option disabled, relying on automatic tiering for cost savings.
Set up an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition objects to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) immediately and to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 3 years.
Explanation
Option B is correct because S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the most cost-effective storage class for data that must be retained for decades. By transitioning data to Glacier Deep Archive after 3 years, the recent data stays in S3 Standard, meeting the immediate accessibility requirement. After 3 years, older data moves to the lowest-cost storage class, satisfying the 30-year retention at minimal cost.
Other options are incorrect because:
- A transitions data to Glacier Flexible Retrieval immediately, making recent data inaccessible for immediate retrieval.
- C's Intelligent-Tiering (archive disabled) does not use Glacier Deep Archive, leading to higher long-term costs.
- D transitions to S3 Standard-IA immediately, which, while cheaper than Standard, still incurs higher storage costs than Glacier Deep Archive for long-term retention. Glacier Deep Archive is the optimal choice for data older than 3 years.
Key Points:
- Use S3 Standard for frequently accessed data requiring immediate availability.
- Use S3 Glacier Deep Archive for long-term archival (minimum 180-day storage) at the lowest cost.
- Lifecycle policies automate transitions between storage classes based on age.
Answer
The correct answer is: B