🎉 Amazon S3 — Section Recap
You've made it through the Amazon S3 section! Here's a quick review of everything covered, to lock it in before the exam.
🪣 Buckets & Objects
Buckets = containers that hold your data
Objects = the actual files inside (images, videos, docs, backups)
Bucket names must be globally unique, and each bucket lives in one specific Region
🔒 Security
Access to your data is controlled through:
👤 IAM Policies (attached to users/groups/roles)
🪣 Bucket Policies (govern the whole bucket)
🔐 Encryption (protects the objects themselves)
🌐 Static Website Hosting
Turn a bucket into a website by enabling Static Website Hosting, allowing public access, and storing your HTML/CSS/JS there — a cheap, simple hosting option.
🕒 Versioning
Keeps multiple copies of the same object over time, so you can:
🗑️ Recover from accidental deletions
🔄 Roll back to an earlier version
⚠️ Must be manually enabled on the bucket.
🔄 Replication
📍 SRR — copies objects to another bucket, same Region
🌍 CRR — copies objects to another bucket, different Region
⚠️ Both source and destination buckets need Versioning enabled first.
📦 Storage Classes
A spread of options balancing cost, availability, and retrieval speed: Standard, Standard-IA, One Zone-IA, Intelligent-Tiering, and the three Glacier tiers (Instant, Flexible, Deep Archive).
🚚 AWS Snowball
A physical device AWS ships you for moving large volumes of data in/out of AWS without relying on internet transfer — also useful for edge computing in low-connectivity locations.
🌉 AWS Storage Gateway
The bridge between on-premises storage and AWS — lets you extend local storage into the cloud, run backups/disaster recovery, and use AWS services without overhauling your existing setup.
📝 Big Picture
Buckets hold objects
Security = IAM + Bucket Policies + Encryption
Versioning protects against loss; Replication copies data across buckets/Regions
Storage Classes trade cost vs. speed vs. availability
Snowball moves data physically; Storage Gateway bridges on-prem and cloud
You've now got a solid grip on S3's core features — enough for real-world use and for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. ✅