S3 Storage Classes, Versioning & Lifecycle

S3 offers multiple storage classes optimized for different access patterns. Choosing the right class is the biggest cost lever. Lifecycle rules automate transitions and expirations.

Storage Classes Comparison

Class                         | Min Duration | Retrieval   | Use Case
------------------------------|--------------|-------------|---------------------------
S3 Standard                   | none         | immediate   | Frequently accessed data
S3 Intelligent-Tiering        | none         | immediate   | Unknown/changing access
S3 Standard-IA                | 30 days      | immediate   | Infrequent, still fast
S3 One Zone-IA                | 30 days      | immediate   | Reproducible infrequent
S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval  | 90 days      | milliseconds| Archives, quarterly access
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval | 90 days      | min–hours   | Backups, flexible timing
S3 Glacier Deep Archive       | 180 days     | 12–48 hours | Compliance, rarely needed

Setting Storage Class on Upload

# Upload directly to a specific class
aws s3 cp logs.tar.gz s3://my-bucket/archives/ \
  --storage-class GLACIER_IR   # Instant Retrieval

# Storage class flags:
# STANDARD | REDUCED_REDUNDANCY | STANDARD_IA | ONEZONE_IA
# INTELLIGENT_TIERING | GLACIER | DEEP_ARCHIVE | GLACIER_IR

Versioning

Versioning keeps all versions of an object. Once enabled on a bucket it cannot be fully disabled, only suspended. Deleting a versioned object adds a delete marker; the actual data remains.

# Enable versioning
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning --bucket my-bucket \
  --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled

# List all versions of an object
aws s3api list-object-versions --bucket my-bucket --prefix images/photo.jpg

# Download a specific version
aws s3api get-object --bucket my-bucket --key images/photo.jpg \
  --version-id abc123XYZ output.jpg

# Permanently delete a specific version (not just add delete marker)
aws s3api delete-object --bucket my-bucket --key images/photo.jpg \
  --version-id abc123XYZ

# Restore an accidentally deleted object by removing the delete marker
aws s3api delete-object --bucket my-bucket --key images/photo.jpg \
  --version-id <delete-marker-version-id>

Lifecycle Rules

Lifecycle rules automate transitions between storage classes and deletion of old objects. Apply them via the console or JSON policy.

{
  "Rules": [
    {
      "ID": "archive-logs",
      "Status": "Enabled",
      "Filter": { "Prefix": "logs/" },
      "Transitions": [
        { "Days": 30, "StorageClass": "STANDARD_IA" },
        { "Days": 90, "StorageClass": "GLACIER_IR" },
        { "Days": 365, "StorageClass": "DEEP_ARCHIVE" }
      ],
      "Expiration": { "Days": 2555 }
    },
    {
      "ID": "clean-incomplete-uploads",
      "Status": "Enabled",
      "Filter": {},
      "AbortIncompleteMultipartUpload": { "DaysAfterInitiation": 7 }
    },
    {
      "ID": "expire-old-versions",
      "Status": "Enabled",
      "Filter": {},
      "NoncurrentVersionTransitions": [
        { "NoncurrentDays": 30, "StorageClass": "GLACIER_IR" }
      ],
      "NoncurrentVersionExpiration": { "NoncurrentDays": 90 }
    }
  ]
}

# Apply lifecycle config
aws s3api put-bucket-lifecycle-configuration \
  --bucket my-bucket \
  --lifecycle-configuration file://lifecycle.json

# View current lifecycle config
aws s3api get-bucket-lifecycle-configuration --bucket my-bucket

S3 Intelligent-Tiering

Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between access tiers based on usage. No retrieval fees, no minimum duration penalties. Small per-object monitoring fee. Best for data with unknown or changing access patterns.

• Frequent Access tier: actively used objects

• Infrequent Access tier: objects not accessed for 30 days

• Archive Instant Access: not accessed for 90 days (optional activation)

• Archive Access: not accessed for 90–730 days (optional, need restore)

• Deep Archive Access: not accessed for 180–730+ days (optional)