Concepts
Hot data is frequently accessed and requires quick retrieval times, while cold data is infrequently accessed and can tolerate slower retrieval times. AWS offers a variety of storage solutions designed to meet the distinct needs of hot and cold data.
Amazon S3 for Hot and Cold Data
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is an object storage service that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. It provides different storage classes for different data access needs:
- S3 Standard: Ideal for frequently accessed data. It offers high availability and automatic retries on errors, making it suitable for hot data.
- S3 Intelligent-Tiering: Automatically moves data between two access tiers based on changing access patterns without performance impact or operational overhead.
- S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA): For data that is accessed less frequently but requires rapid access when needed. It offers lower storage costs compared to S3 Standard.
- S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA): Similar to S3 Standard-IA but stores data in a single AZ, making it less expensive but also less resilient.
- S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive: Designed for data archiving. Glacier is for data retrieval in minutes to hours, while Deep Archive is the most cost-effective for long-term storage with retrieval times of hours to days.
The following table summarizes the primary characteristics:
| Storage Class | Use Case | Availability | Retrieval Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | Frequently accessed hot data | 99.99% | Milliseconds | High |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | Varying access | 99.9% | Milliseconds | Varies with access pattern |
| S3 Standard-IA | Less frequently accessed data | 99.9% | Milliseconds | Lower than S3 Standard |
| S3 One Zone-IA | Non-critical, infrequent data | 99.5% | Milliseconds | Lower than S3 Standard-IA |
| S3 Glacier | Long-term archive, colder data | 99.99% | Minutes to hours | Lower than S3 One Zone-IA |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | Long-term archive, coldest data | 99.99% | Hours to days | Lowest |
Amazon EFS for File-Based Hot and Cold Data
AWS offers Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) for applications that require a file system interface and file system semantics. EFS provides two performance modes:
- General Purpose: Ideal for latency-sensitive use cases where files are frequently accessed.
- Max I/O: Optimized for high levels of aggregate throughput and operations per second, best suited for big data applications, media processing, and scientific analysis.
Amazon EFS also has two storage tiers:
- Standard: For actively used files.
- Infrequent Access (EFS IA): For files accessed less frequently; offers cost savings compared to the Standard tier.
Lifecycle management policies can be set to automatically transition files from Standard to IA based on age.
Amazon EBS for Block-Based Hot and Cold Data
For block storage, there’s Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) which offers various volume types for different use cases:
- Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1/io2): Designed for I/O intensive applications such as large relational or NoSQL databases (hot data).
- General Purpose SSD (gp2/gp3): Balanced cost and performance, suitable for a wide variety of workloads (hot to warm data).
- Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) and Cold HDD (sc1): Low-cost volume types for throughput-intensive workloads and less frequently accessed data (warm to cold data).
Here’s a quick comparison:
| Volume Type | Use Case | Throughput | IOPS | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provisioned IOPS SSD | I/O intensive, latency-sensitive data | High | Up to 64,000 | High |
| General Purpose SSD | Balanced workloads | Moderate | Up to 16,000 | Moderate |
| Throughput Optimized HDD | Big data, data warehouses | High | Moderate (500) | Lower |
| Cold HDD | Infrequently accessed | Low | Low (250) | Lowest among EBS |
AWS provides additional features such as lifecycle policies, automatic tiering, and data migration services like AWS DataSync, which can help with optimizing storage costs and managing data transfers between these storage solutions.
When designing storage solutions for data engineering on AWS, it’s crucial to consider the nature of the data (hot, warm, or cold) and select the appropriate storage solution and configuration. It’s also recommended to regularly review usage patterns and adjust the storage strategy accordingly to optimize costs and performance.
Answer the Questions in Comment Section
Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering is recommended for data with unknown or changing access patterns.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves data to the most cost-effective storage tier based on changing access patterns without performance impact or operational overhead.
Amazon EFS is a good choice for high-performance computing workloads that require shared file storage.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon EFS provides a simple, scalable, elastic file system for Linux-based workloads and is suitable for high-performance computing applications.
Amazon RDS is optimized for OLTP workloads?
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon RDS is designed for relational databases with a focus on OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) workloads, where fast and predictable performance is required.
Which AWS service is used for archiving data that may be accessed infrequently but requires rapid access when needed?
- Amazon S3 Standard
- Amazon S3 Glacier
- AWS Storage Gateway
- Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval
Answer: Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval
Explanation: Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval is designed for data that is infrequently accessed but requires retrieval in milliseconds when needed.
Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access is a suitable storage class for:
- Mission-critical data
- Backups with a single Availability Zone requirement
- Data requiring frequent, fast access
- Data that cannot afford any loss
Answer: Backups with a single Availability Zone requirement
Explanation: Amazon S3 One Zone-IA is a cost-effective storage class for storing infrequently accessed data that does not require the higher availability and resilience of Amazon S3 Standard or multiple Availability Zones.
For data that is frequently accessed and requires the lowest-latency access, which storage service is most appropriate?
- Amazon S3 Standard-IA
- Amazon S3 One Zone-IA
- Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2)
- Amazon S3 Glacier
Answer: Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2)
Explanation: Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2) is designed for IO-intensive workloads, such as databases, that require consistent, low-latency performance.
Which AWS service can be leveraged for on-premises applications that require seamless access to virtual tape backups stored in AWS?
- AWS Storage Gateway
- Amazon S3
- Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)
- Amazon FSx
Answer: AWS Storage Gateway
Explanation: AWS Storage Gateway’s Tape Gateway provides a virtual tape infrastructure that seamlessly connects on-premises backup applications with cloud-based virtual tape storage.
True or False: Amazon S3 Standard storage class offers 99% availability and 999999999% durability.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon S3 Standard is designed for 99% availability and provides 11 9’s (999999999%) durability of objects over a given year.
What is the minimum storage duration for data stored in Amazon S3 Glacier?
- 30 days
- 90 days
- 1 year
- No minimum duration
Answer: 90 days
Explanation: Amazon S3 Glacier is designed as a long-term storage solution with a minimum storage duration of 90 days.
AWS Snowball is used for which of the following scenarios?
- Real-time data processing
- Large-scale data transfers into and out of AWS
- Low-latency, high-throughput database workloads
- Automated data archival
Answer: Large-scale data transfers into and out of AWS
Explanation: AWS Snowball is a data transport solution used to move large amounts of data into and out of AWS using secure physical appliances.
True or False: Data stored in Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive is typically expected to be accessed less than once a year.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive is designed for data that is rarely accessed and provides the lowest cost storage option for long-term archiving.
Which storage service is best suited for frequently accessed, throughput-sensitive file systems?
- Amazon S3 Glacier
- Amazon FSx for Lustre
- Amazon S3 One Zone-IA
- Amazon Glacier Deep Archive
Answer: Amazon FSx for Lustre
Explanation: Amazon FSx for Lustre is a high-performance file system optimized for fast processing of workloads such as machine learning, high-performance computing, and video processing.
Thanks for this detailed post. It was really helpful.
Great post! I have a question regarding S3 storage classes. How do you decide between using Standard and Intelligent-Tiering for hot and cold data?
Intelligent-Tiering is more suitable when access patterns are unknown or unpredictable, while Standard is ideal for frequently accessed data.
This helped clarify my doubts about storage solutions on AWS. Appreciated!
Can someone explain how Glacier and Glacier Deep Archive differ in terms of use cases for cold data?
Glacier is used for data that needs to be accessed occasionally, while Deep Archive is best for data that is rarely accessed and can tolerate longer retrieval times.
Awesome breakdown of hot and cold data storage. Thanks!
I’m confused about when to use EBS vs EFS for storage. Any guidance?
EBS is block storage suitable for single instance use, perfect for databases. EFS, on the other hand, is a managed file storage that can be accessed by multiple instances simultaneously.
This blog is missing some key points on latency for different storage options.
Very informative. I now understand which storage classes to select for different data temperatures.