Cloud Computing
AWS S3
Definition
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is an object storage service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that provides industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. Data is stored in "buckets" as "objects".
Why It Matters
S3 is one of the oldest, most popular, and foundational services in AWS. It has become the de facto standard for cloud object storage, and is used as a backend for countless applications, data lakes, and backup solutions.
Contextual Example
A mobile app allows users to upload photos. The app uploads the photo files directly to an S3 bucket. The bucket can store a virtually unlimited number of photos and provides extremely high durability.
Common Misunderstandings
- S3 is not a file system that you can mount on your computer (though there are tools that can make it look like one). It is accessed via an API.
- It offers different "storage classes" that provide different levels of availability and cost, such as for frequently accessed data versus long-term archival.