AWS FinOps - Reducing Costs with AWS Simple Storage Service (S3)
Shiekh Mudasir Nazir
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AWS FinOps - Reducing Costs with AWS Simple Storage Service (S3)
What is AWS S3?
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is a scalable, high-speed, low-cost cloud storage service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It allows individuals and businesses to store and retrieve any amount of data at any time from anywhere on the web. S3 offers a variety of tools and features to help users manage and access their data efficiently in Cloud.
Optimizing costs with S3
There are several ways to save costs when using Amazon S3 buckets. These strategies focus on pptimizing storage, minimizing access costs, and leveraging AWS features efficiently. Below are the most effective methods to reduce S3 costs:
1. Choose the Right S3 Storage Class
S3 offers multiple storage classes that cater to different use cases. By selecting the right class based on access patterns, you can lower storage costs:
• S3 Standard: Best for frequently accessed data. It offers the highest performance but has the highest cost associated with it. Consider using this storage class only for your critical and frequently accessed data.
• S3 Infrequent Access (IA): Suitable for data that is accessed less frequently but still needs to be quickly retrieved when necessary. It’s cheaper than Standard Tier but you are charged extra retrieval costs whenever you try to access an object in S3. Hence, only Consider this for data that is accessed less frequently - may be once every month or once every quarter, etc.
• S3 One Zone-IA: A lower-cost option for infrequently accessed data that doesn’t require Multi-AZ resilience. All the other storage classes offer Multi-AZ resilience except S3 One Zone-IA which as the name itself suggests is One Zone. Hence, consider this for your Non critical and less frequently accessed data.
• S3 Intelligent-Tiering: Automatically moves data between the storage tiers based on usage. This is ideal when you're unsure of your data access patterns.
• S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval & S3 Glacier Deep Archive: Perfect for archiving data. Glacier tiers offer retrieval times in minutes to hours, while Glacier Deep Archive is the cheapest and best for long-term, rarely accessed data, with retrieval times of up to 12 hours.
2. Implement Data Lifecycle Policies
S3 lifecycle policies allow you to automate the transition of objects between storage classes or delete them after they reach a certain age. This can help lower costs by:
• Automatically moving data from S3 Standard to S3 IA or S3 Glacier after a period of inactivity.
• Expiring and deleting outdated or unnecessary data, such as logs, backups, or old media files, that are no longer needed.
3. Use S3 Versioning Wisely
S3 versioning can be useful for data protection, but unnecessary versioning can increase storage costs. To optimize costs:
• Only enable versioning on important objects.
• Set up lifecycle policies to delete old versions (Non- Current Versions) of objects once they are no longer needed.
4. Minimize Request Costs
Every interaction with S3, such as PUT, GET, and LIST operations, incurs a request fee. To minimize costs:
• Batch Operations: Use S3 Batch Operations to process large numbers of objects in a single request.
• Use Multipart Uploads: For large files, use multipart uploads to reduce the number of requests and optimize transfer times.
• Optimize Access Patterns: Consolidate small objects into larger ones, when feasible, to reduce the number of requests.
5. Optimize Data Transfer Costs
Data transfer costs can add up, especially when transferring data out of S3. Here are a few strategies to reduce transfer costs:
• Reduce Cross-Region Transfers: Minimize data transfer between AWS regions, as it incurs higher costs. Whenever possible, store and access data within the same region.
• Use CloudFront: For frequent access to static content, such as images or videos, use Amazon CloudFront, which caches your data at edge locations to reduce the number of requests to S3 and lower outbound data transfer costs.
6. Enable Compression
By compressing your data before uploading it to S3, you can reduce the overall storage required. This is especially helpful for text-based data like logs, CSV files, or JSON data. Compression can significantly lower storage costs while also speeding up transfer times.
7. Choose the most suitable encryption solution to protect your data at rest
S3 offers variety of options to encrypt your data at rest
A. To configure server-side encryption:
• Server-side encryption with Amazon S3 managed keys (SSE-S3)
• Server-side encryption with AWS KMS (SSE-KMS)
• Dual-layer server-side encryption with AWS KMS keys (DSSE-KMS)
• Server-side encryption with customer-provided keys (SSE-C)
B. Client-side encryption
Selecting the right encryption solution based on your needs can lead to significant cost savings.
8. Consolidate Small Objects
Storing many small objects in S3 can result in high request costs and inefficient storage usage. To save costs:
• Combine smaller objects into larger ones when possible.
• Use S3 Multipart Uploads for large files to reduce the number of requests.
9. Monitor Usage with AWS Cost Explorer
Regularly audit your usage and spending using AWS Cost Explorer. This tool provides detailed insights into your S3 usage, helping you identify patterns and areas where you can cut back. You can track:
• Costs by storage class
• Request activity and their associated costs
• Data transfer costs