Amazon S3 Storage Classes

Managed Backup service fully supports Amazon S3 storage classes including S3 Intelligent-Tiering, S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval and S3 Glacier Deep Archive. With the S3 Glacier storage class, you can back up files directly to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval. Amazon S3 offers different storage classes for different purposes. The proper selection of a storage class allows you to reduce your storage costs for data that is rarely used and does not require instant access.

All classes have a high level of reliability and support SSL data encryption during transmission but differ by their cost.

These storage classes are:

For General Purpose Storage of Frequently Accessed Data

• S3 Standard. This storage class is designed for frequently used data storage. It delivers low latency and high throughput, thus, S3 Standard is an appropriate choice for the widest range of storage use cases: for a large number of files, in particular. The storage class does not have a minimum capacity charge per object. Compared to other storage classes, S3 Standard is more expensive

For Long-lived But Less Frequently Accessed Data

• S3 Standard-Infrequent Access. This storage class is designed for data that is accessed less frequently but requires rapid access when needed. This storage class offers the high durability, high throughput, and low latency of S3 Standard, with a low per GB storage price and per GB retrieval fee. The S3 Standard-IA storage class requires a minimum storage period of 30 days and is optimal for file backups larger than 128 KB due to the storage class policy
• S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access. This storage class is 20% less expensive than Amazon S3 Standard-IA due to lesser availability—99.5% within a year. The S3 Standard-IA storage class requires a minimum storage period of 30 days and is optimal for file backups larger than 128 KB due to the storage class policy
• S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval. This new storage class delivers the fastest access to archive storage, with the same throughput and milliseconds access as the S3 Standard and S3 Standard-IA storage classes

For Data with Changing Access Patterns

• S3 Intelligent-Tiering. This storage class works by storing objects in two access tiers: one tier that is optimized for frequent access and another lower-cost tier that is optimized for infrequent access. Once you put objects in the S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class, AWS will monitor and move your data to the proper storage tier on a per-object basis. If your object hasn’t been accessed within 30 days, AWS will move it to the Infrequent Access storage tier. If the object is then accessed after being moved to the Infrequent Access tier, AWS will move it back to the Standard storage class

For Long-term Archive and Digital Preservation

• Amazon S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval (formerly S3 Glacier). This storage class is a solution for long-term storage and archiving of data which don’t require instant access. You can reliably store any amount of data at costs that are competitive with or cheaper than on-premises solutions. The S3 Glacier storage class requires a minimum storage period of 90 days and limits the minimum size of the object to 40 KB. The data retrieval time for this storage class may vary depending on retrieval type (Bulk, Standard or Expedited) and is implemented from 1 minute (Expedited retrieval type) to 12 hours (Bulk retrieval type)
• Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive. This storage class is Amazon S3’s lowest-cost storage class and supports long-term retention and digital preservation for data that is accessed rarely in a year. The S3 Glacier Deep Archive functionally is similar to S3 Glacier, except for a longer retrieval time and requires a minimum storage period of 180 days. The data retrieval time for this storage class may vary depending on retrieval type (Bulk or Standard) and is implemented within 48 hours (Bulk retrieval type)

Enable Storage Classes

This topic explains:

• How to enable Storage Classes for Backup Agent
• How to set Storage Class in Backup Agent
• How to set Storage Class in Management Console

Enable Storage Classes for Backup Agent

To enable storage classes for Backup Agent, proceed as follows:

1. Open the Management Console.
2. In Settings menu, select Global Agent Options.
3. In the Storage Class group, configure the S3 storage class settings:

• Show storage class options. The Storage Class option becomes available in backup wizards
• Default storage class. This will automatically set the selected storage class to all objects to back up. If you enable the Show storage class options option, the storage class option with a specified default class in the Backup Wizard will be available.

Once you enabled the Show storage class options, click the Update Resources button and then generate a new Backup Agent that will include the storage class.

Set the Storage Class in Backup Agent

To set the storage class in Backup Agent, proceed as follows:

1. Run Backup Agent, then create a new backup plan or edit an existing one.
2. On the Select Backup Storage step, select any of your Amazon S3 backup destinations.
3. Follow the wizard to the Advanced Options step. The Storage Class option is shown and the default class is selected. Select another storage class if required.
4. Follow backup wizard steps to finish the backup plan.

Set the Storage Class in Management Console

With the Remote Management feature, you can remotely create new backup plans and set the Amazon S3 storage class for objects uploaded to the Amazon S3 storage account.

1. Open the Management Console.
2. In the Computers menu, select Remote Management.
3. Find the required computer, then click the gear icon.
4. Select Show Plans.
5. Find the required plan or create a new one.
6. Switch to the Where To Back Up step.
7. Select any of your Amazon S3 backup destinations.
8. Switch to the Advanced Options step.
9. In the Storage Class drop-down menu, select the required S3 storage class.
10. Click Save.

To learn more about backup plan configuration, refer to Backup section.