Amazon S3: Now Store & Retrieve Any Amount of Data From Anywhere

Know what is Amazon S3

If you are looking to backup large volumes of data to the cloud, then Amazon’s S3 is an option worth considering. S3 basically stands for Simple Storage Service. It is object storage built to store as well as retrieve any amount of data from anywhere – mobile apps & websites, corporate applications, as well as data from IoT sensors or devices.

Amazon S3 is designed to deliver 99.999999999% durability as well as stores data for millions of applications used by market leaders. It provides full security as well as compliance capabilities that even meet the most strict regulatory requirements. Also, customers have the flexibility in the way they manage data for cost optimization, access control, as well as compliance. S3 is the most supported platform with the largest ecosystem.

Have a look at some of the benefits of Amazon S3

Low Cost

Amazon S3 has no minimum fees as well as no set-up costs. It uses a pay-as-you-go system where you will only have to pay for the storage you will be using. Calculating the price can be a little tricky, but the average domestic user should not spend more than a few dollars per month. This makes S3 a much more cost-effective alternative to smaller sized businesses who may be using Dropbox Pro, which has a flat price.

Unlimited Bandwidth

If videos, images or applications are eating up your website’s monthly bandwidth limit, then Amazon S3 is the perfect solution for you. Amazon S3 offers unlimited bandwidth, leaving you absolutely free to host as many files as you need to your site. Your site will be having all of the moving gears you wanted while still running efficiently as well as quickly.

Better Scalability

Scalability refers to the ability of a system to perform under an expanding workload. If a system scales well, it will be able to perform well even under large operational demands.

With Amazon S3’s cloud serving as well as image hosting, your website will be able to function faster. Separating your file hosting from normal HTTP request can ease your server load as well as optimize performance & stability.

Easier retrieval & sharing of files

Amazon S3 will enable your team to work more cohesively through easy file sharing. As the files will be stored online, your team will be able to access them from anywhere as well as from any device, as long as there is Internet connection. You will not have to worry about broken email attachments or misplaced flash drives anymore.

Most comprehensive security and compliance capabilities

Amazon S3 supports three different forms of encryption. Amazon S3 can be integrated with AWS CloudTrail to log, monitor as well as retain storage API call activities for auditing. This is the only cloud storage platform, which uses machine learning to automatically discover as well as protect sensitive data in AWS. It supports security standards & compliance certifications such as FedRAMP, PCI-DSS, FISMA,  HIPAA/HITECH.

Reliable

As it’s based on the Amazon infrastructure, it is far more reliable than other data storage providers.

How Does S3 Work?

S3 stores files within top level folders called as “buckets.” Each bucket created must have a globally unique name that serves as its URL. It is better to begin each bucket’s name with the name of the organization it represents. You will not be able to change the bucket’s name later, so you need to be sure to name it something  easy to interpret as well as relevant. Also, you will have to select a region, that refers to the data center that Amazon will be using to store your data. This may be little bit tricky. Also, different regions have different prices, so you will obviously want to select a cheaper region. However, the server speed is influenced by your distance from it. So you will definitely want to select a region that’s closest to where your visitors are.

Once the bucket is created, you can access it as well as begin uploading files. Then these files can be downloaded by right-clicking & opening. Text as well as PDF files will be opening in your browser, while others will download. Also, you can just choose the “download” option in the right-click menu. As mentioned earlier, all the files uploaded are hosted privately. For sharing the file or hosting it publicly, you will have to right click on the file, go into its properties, as well as adjust its permission settings.

So if you are looking to store large volumes of data online at an affordable price, S3 will be best for you. Apart from being reliable, scalable, durable as well as flexible, it is an incredibly affordable as well as easy to manage storage service for businesses of all sizes.