Most Cost-Effective Amazon S3 Object Storage Class for File-Sharing Service

Correct Answer - D.

S3 Intelligent-Tiering is a new Amazon S3 storage class designed for customers who want to optimize storage costs automatically when data access patterns change, without performance impact or operational overhead.

S3 Intelligent-Tiering is the first cloud object storage class that delivers automatic cost savings by moving data between two access tiers - frequent access and infrequent access - when access patterns change, and is ideal for data with unknown or changing access patterns.

S3 Intelligent-Tiering stores objects in two access tiers: one tier optimized for frequent access and another lower-cost tier optimized for infrequent access.

For a small monthly monitoring and automation fee per object, S3 Intelligent-Tiering monitors access patterns and moves objects that have not been accessed for 30 consecutive days to the infrequent access tier.

There are no retrieval fees in S3 Intelligent-Tiering.

If an object in the infrequent access tier is accessed later, it is automatically moved back to the frequent access tier.

No additional tiering fees apply when objects are moved between access tiers within the S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class.

S3 Intelligent-Tiering is designed for 99.9% availability and 99.999999999% durability, and offers the same low latency and high throughput performance of S3 Standard.

https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/11/s3-intelligent-tiering/

Option A is incorrect because Amazon S3 Standard would be an inefficient class for storing those objects that will be accessed rarely.

Option B is incorrect because storing objects that are frequently accessed in Amazon S3 Glacier would present operational bottlenecks since these objects would not be available instantly.

https://aws.amazon.com/s3/storage-classes/

Option C is incorrect because storing those objects that are rarely accessed and those that would be accessed frequently in Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequently Accessed would be inefficient.

Based on the access patterns provided in the question, the most cost-effective Amazon S3 object storage class to implement is Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequently Accessed (C).

Amazon S3 offers different storage classes with varying levels of performance, durability, and cost. The four options provided in the question are:

A. Amazon S3 Standard: This is the default storage class and provides high durability, availability, and performance. It is suitable for frequently accessed data and has the highest cost compared to other storage classes.

B. Amazon S3 Glacier: This storage class is designed for data archiving and long-term backup. It has low cost but has a retrieval time of several hours, making it unsuitable for frequently accessed data.

C. Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequently Accessed: This storage class is designed for infrequently accessed data that can be recreated if lost. It is less expensive than Amazon S3 Standard and is stored in a single availability zone, reducing its durability compared to other storage classes.

D. Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering: This storage class automatically moves data between two tiers based on changing access patterns. It is designed for data with unknown or changing access patterns and has a higher cost compared to Amazon S3 Standard and One Zone-Infrequently Accessed.

Based on the access patterns provided in the question, it is clear that not all files are accessed frequently. Popular files are downloaded every day, while others are accessed less frequently or rarely. Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequently Accessed is the most cost-effective storage class in this scenario since it provides durability for data that can be recreated if lost and has a lower cost than Amazon S3 Standard. Although it is less durable than other storage classes, it is still suitable for storing files that are not critical and can be easily replaced if lost.

In conclusion, Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequently Accessed (C) is the most cost-effective Amazon S3 object storage class to implement for a file-sharing service that stores files uploaded by users and has random access patterns.