SAA-C03 Question 420
Single answerA company is designing a photo-sharing application where users can upload images. The application stores images in Amazon S3. The images are accessed frequently for the first 30 days after upload but are rarely accessed after that. The company wants to minimize storage costs while ensuring the images remain available for download when requested. What is the MOST cost-efficient storage solution?
- A
Store the images in the S3 Standard storage class for the first 30 days, then transition them to the S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval storage class.
- B
Store the images in the S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class.
- C
Store the images in the S3 Standard storage class for the first 30 days, then transition them to the S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) storage class.
- D
Store all images in the S3 Standard storage class permanently.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The company's access pattern indicates that images are frequently accessed for the first 30 days and then infrequently accessed afterward. Using S3 Standard for the first 30 days ensures low-latency access during the frequent-access period. Transitioning to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days reduces storage costs for the infrequently accessed images while maintaining quick retrieval times. This approach strikes the best balance between cost and performance for the given scenario.
- A. Incorrect.
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval is designed for long-term archival storage and is not suitable for scenarios where infrequent but faster access is required. Transitioning to this storage class would increase retrieval time and may not align with the application's needs.
- B. Incorrect.
S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves data between storage tiers based on access patterns, but it incurs a monitoring and automation fee, which may not be optimal if the access pattern is predictable (frequently accessed for 30 days, then infrequent).
- C. Correct.
Transitioning from S3 Standard to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days is the most cost-efficient solution for this case because S3 Standard-IA is designed for infrequently accessed data but still allows quick retrieval. This approach aligns with the specified access pattern.
- D. Incorrect.
Storing all images in S3 Standard permanently would unnecessarily increase storage costs because S3 Standard is optimized for frequently accessed data, not for infrequent access.