Concepts
S3 Transfer Acceleration enables fast, easy, and secure transfers of files over long distances between your client and an S3 bucket. It leverages Amazon CloudFront’s globally distributed edge locations to accelerate uploads to S3. As data arrives at an edge location, it is routed to Amazon S3 over an optimized network path.
How to Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration
- Open the Amazon S3 console and navigate to your bucket.
- Open the Properties tab for your bucket.
- Find the Transfer Acceleration section and enable it.
Once it is enabled, you can access your bucket using a distinct endpoint URL provided by the S3 console, typically in the format bucketname.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com.
Use-Case Example
When you have multiple gigabytes of data that you need to transfer across continents, traditional S3 data transfer can be slow due to network latency and congestion. However, utilizing S3 Transfer Acceleration can significantly reduce the transfer time of large files by taking advantage of AWS’s optimized network.
Multipart Uploads
Multipart uploads are another way to improve performance, especially when dealing with large files. This feature allows you to upload a single object as a set of parts. Each part is an independent upload that can be performed in parallel, and if a part fails, you can just reupload that part rather than the whole file.
How to Perform a Multipart Upload
- Initiate the multipart upload and receive an upload ID in return.
- Upload each part — a part can be between 5 MB and 5 GB, with the last part being optional and possibly smaller.
- Complete the multipart upload — after uploading all parts, you must send a request to complete the upload, passing along the upload ID and details of the part uploads.
Example AWS CLI Commands
aws s3api create-multipart-upload –bucket mybucket –key bigfile.zip
aws s3api upload-part –bucket mybucket –key bigfile.zip –part-number 1 –body part1 –upload-id
aws s3api upload-part –bucket mybucket –key bigfile.zip –part-number 2 –body part2 –upload-id
…
aws s3api complete-multipart-upload –multipart-upload file://my-multipart-upload.json –bucket mybucket –key bigfile.zip –upload-id
Use Case Example
Imagine you’re uploading a 50 GB video file to your S3 bucket. Rather than sending this up as a single stream, you decide to break it into 5 GB parts. This way, you can send up to 10 parts simultaneously, reducing the overall upload time and making your upload process resilient to part failures.
Comparing S3 Performance Features
| Feature | S3 Transfer Acceleration | Multipart Uploads |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Accelerates transfer over long distances | Allows a large object upload in parts |
| Methodology | Utilization of AWS Edge Locations | Parallel upload of parts |
| Best Used For | Large files needed quickly over long geographical distances | Very large files and unreliable networks |
| Cost | Additional charge for data transfer | No additional charge (except standard S3 PUT requests) |
By leveraging these S3 performance features, you can ensure that large data transfers are handled more efficiently. S3 Transfer Acceleration is best for speed over distance, while Multipart Uploads are optimal for improving throughput and resilience to errors. As a SysOps Administrator, understanding and correctly implementing these features can help you optimize your AWS workflows, increase efficiency, and potentially reduce costs. These S3 optimizations are both practical knowledge for real-world applications and important concepts for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate exam.
Answer the Questions in Comment Section
True or False: Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration improves upload speed by routing traffic through the AWS edge locations.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration improves transfer speed by taking advantage of Amazon CloudFront’s globally distributed edge locations to route data to S3 buckets faster.
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration is automatically enabled for all S3 buckets.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B
Explanation: S3 Transfer Acceleration is not automatically enabled; it has to be manually activated for each S3 bucket where you want to use it.
Which HTTP method can be used to upload parts in a multipart upload to Amazon S3?
- (A) PUT
- (B) POST
- (C) GET
- (D) DELETE
Answer: A
Explanation: The PUT HTTP method is used to upload parts in a multipart upload to Amazon S
What is the minimum size of an individual part when performing a multipart upload to Amazon S3 (excluding the last part)?
- (A) 5 MB
- (B) 5 GB
- (C) 500 KB
- (D) 100 MB
Answer: A
Explanation: When performing a multipart upload, each part must be at least 5 MB in size with the exception of the last part.
True or False: S3 Transfer Acceleration can be tested using the AWS S3 Transfer Acceleration Speed Comparison tool.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: The AWS S3 Transfer Acceleration Speed Comparison tool helps to compare the difference in data transfer rates with and without S3 Transfer Acceleration.
True or False: Multipart upload is required for files over 5 GB in size when uploading to Amazon S
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: Files larger than 5 GB require the use of multipart uploads when being uploaded to S3, due to limitations on upload sizes.
True or False: Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration pricing is based on the volume of data transferred out of S3 using this feature.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration incurs additional charges based on the amount of data transferred out of S3 using the acceleration service.
Which of the following are benefits of using Amazon S3 multipart uploads? (Select TWO)
- (A) Increased performance by uploading parts in parallel
- (B) No need for resuming uploads from scratch after a network error
- (C) Reduction in costs for data transfer out of S3
- (D) Enhanced encryption features for uploaded parts
- (E) Ability to upload objects without specifying the object size beforehand
Answer: A, B
Explanation: Multipart upload offers both improved performance through parallel uploads and increased reliability as parts can be retried individually without restarting the entire upload after a network error.
What is the maximum number of parts allowed for a single multipart upload to Amazon S3?
- (A) 10,000
- (B) 5,000
- (C) 50,000
- (D) 10,000
Answer: A
Explanation: The maximum number of parts for a single multipart upload to Amazon S3 is 10,
How can an S3 object that has been uploaded using multipart upload be accessed?
- (A) The object can be accessed immediately after all parts are uploaded and before initiating the Complete Multipart Upload operation.
- (B) The object can only be accessed after initiating the Complete Multipart Upload operation.
- (C) The object is available after uploading the first part.
- (D) The object can be accessed partially during the upload process.
Answer: B
Explanation: An S3 object uploaded using multipart upload is only fully accessible after completing the upload process by initiating a Complete Multipart Upload operation that assembles all parts.
True or False: When enabling S3 Transfer Acceleration on a bucket, it affects both uploads and downloads to/from the bucket.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B
Explanation: S3 Transfer Acceleration primarily affects upload speeds to the S3 bucket, but not the download speeds from the bucket.
To enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on a bucket via the AWS CLI, which action should you perform?
- (A) Use the `put-bucket-accelerate-configuration` command with the `–accelerate` option set to `Enabled`
- (B) Set the `–transfer-acceleration` flag to `true` when creating a new bucket
- (C) Use the `update-bucket-accelerate-configuration` command with the `AccelerateConfiguration` argument
- (D) Implement the `EnableTransferAcceleration` policy on the bucket
Answer: A
Explanation: To enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on a bucket using the AWS CLI, you should use the `put-bucket-accelerate-configuration` command and set the `–accelerate` option to `Enabled`.
Great blog post on S3 performance features! Very helpful for my upcoming AWS Certified SysOps Administrator exam.
Can anyone explain how S3 Transfer Acceleration works in detail?
I’ve been using multipart uploads for large files. It significantly improved my upload times.
What are some best practices for configuring S3 Transfer Acceleration?
Thanks for this detailed information. Very useful!
I’m still confused about when to use multipart uploads. Any advice?
Thanks for posting this. It cleared up a lot of confusion for me.
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator exam is tough. This info on S3 performance features is gold!