☁️ S3-Compatible Storage Destinations
Choose the right cloud storage backend for your backup infrastructure
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)
Provider: Amazon Web Services
Launched: March 2006
Type: Object Storage Service
Website: aws.amazon.com/s3
Overview
Amazon S3 is the industry-leading object storage service, trusted by millions of customers worldwide to store and protect any amount of data. As the original cloud storage platform, S3 pioneered the concept of infinitely scalable, durable, and highly available object storage. With 11 9's (99.999999999%) of durability and 99.99% availability SLA, S3 provides enterprise-grade reliability for backup, archive, disaster recovery, and data lake applications.
Product Description
Amazon S3 offers unmatched flexibility through multiple storage classes optimized for different access patterns and retention requirements. From S3 Standard for frequently accessed data to S3 Glacier Deep Archive for long-term archival, customers can optimize costs while maintaining data availability. S3's global infrastructure spans 33 AWS regions with 105 availability zones, ensuring data sovereignty and low-latency access worldwide.
The service integrates seamlessly with thousands of partner solutions and supports every major backup software platform through its S3 API standard. Advanced features like S3 Object Lock provide WORM (Write Once Read Many) compliance for regulatory requirements, while S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically optimizes storage costs by moving data between access tiers based on usage patterns.
Storage Classes
S3 Standard
Frequently accessed data with millisecond latency. Ideal for active backups and hot data requiring immediate access.
S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Automatic cost optimization by moving data between access tiers. No retrieval fees, perfect for unpredictable access patterns.
S3 Standard-IA
Infrequently accessed data with rapid access when needed. 40% lower cost than S3 Standard with retrieval fees.
S3 One Zone-IA
Lower-cost option for infrequently accessed data that doesn't require multi-AZ resilience. 20% cheaper than Standard-IA.
S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval
Archive storage with instant access (milliseconds). 68% lower cost than S3 Standard-IA for rarely accessed data.
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval
Long-term archive with retrieval in minutes to hours. 10% of S3 Standard cost for compliance archives.
S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Lowest-cost storage for data retained 7-10 years. Retrieval within 12 hours at 1/4 the cost of Glacier.
S3 Outposts
Object storage on-premises using AWS Outposts infrastructure. S3 API consistency for hybrid environments.
Pricing (US East - N. Virginia Region)
💰 Incoming Data (Upload) Pricing
FREE - All data transfer INTO S3 from the internet is free
Upload unlimited backup data without any ingress charges. This makes S3 ideal for initial backup uploads and ongoing incremental backups.
📦 Storage Pricing (per GB per month)
| Storage Class | First 50 TB | Next 450 TB | Over 500 TB |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | $0.023 | $0.022 | $0.021 |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | $0.023 + $0.0025 monitoring | $0.022 + $0.0025 monitoring | $0.021 + $0.0025 monitoring |
| S3 Standard-IA | $0.0125 | $0.0125 | $0.0125 |
| S3 One Zone-IA | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 |
| S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval | $0.004 | $0.004 | $0.004 |
| S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval | $0.0036 | $0.0036 | $0.0036 |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | $0.00099 | $0.00099 | $0.00099 |
📤 Egress (Data Transfer Out) Pricing
- First 100 GB/month: FREE
- Next 10 TB/month: $0.09 per GB
- Next 40 TB/month: $0.085 per GB
- Next 100 TB/month: $0.07 per GB
- Over 150 TB/month: $0.05 per GB
⚠️ Data transfer within the same AWS region is FREE. Transfer between regions incurs $0.02/GB charges.
Additional Pricing Considerations
- Request Pricing: PUT/POST requests: $0.005 per 1,000 requests; GET requests: $0.0004 per 1,000 requests
- Data Retrieval (IA/Glacier): Standard-IA: $0.01/GB; Glacier Instant: $0.03/GB; Glacier Flexible: $0.01-$0.03/GB based on speed
- Lifecycle Transitions: $0.01 per 1,000 objects transitioned to IA or Glacier storage classes
- S3 Object Lock: No additional charge; included with S3 Standard, IA, and Glacier classes
- Replication: You pay for storage in destination region plus data transfer and replication PUT requests
Key Features
- Durability: 99.999999999% (11 9's) annual durability with automatic redundancy across multiple facilities
- Availability: 99.99% availability SLA with automatic failover and multi-AZ architecture
- Security: Encryption at rest (SSE-S3, SSE-KMS, SSE-C) and in transit (SSL/TLS), IAM policies, bucket policies, ACLs
- Compliance: HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 1/2/3, ISO 27001, FedRAMP certified; S3 Object Lock for WORM compliance
- Versioning: Built-in object versioning protects against accidental deletion and provides rollback capabilities
- Lifecycle Management: Automated transition between storage classes and expiration policies
- Global Infrastructure: 33 regions, 105 availability zones enabling data sovereignty and low latency
Use Cases for Backup
- Primary Backup Target: Direct backup from applications, databases, and servers to S3 using native integrations
- Long-Term Archive: Glacier classes provide cost-effective retention for compliance and historical records
- Disaster Recovery: Cross-region replication ensures backups survive regional disasters
- Data Lake: S3 serves as foundation for backup analytics, compliance search, and data mining
- Hybrid Cloud: AWS Storage Gateway and Snowball devices bridge on-premises and cloud backup
Cost Example: 10TB Monthly Backup
Scenario: 10TB backup storage, 100GB monthly uploads (incremental), 50GB monthly restores
- Storage (S3 Standard): 10,240 GB × $0.023 = $235.52/month
- Upload (Ingress): FREE
- Download (Egress): 50GB - 100GB free tier = 0 (within free tier) = $0
- Requests: ~$0.50/month (estimated for typical backup operations)
- Total Monthly Cost: ~$236/month
Using S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval: 10,240 GB × $0.0036 = $36.86/month (84% savings for archival backups)
Why Choose AWS S3?
Amazon S3's unmatched durability, proven at massive scale managing trillions of objects, makes it the gold standard for backup storage. The platform's 99.999999999% durability means storing 10 million objects would statistically lose only one object every 10,000 years. This reliability, combined with comprehensive security certifications and compliance support, makes S3 the trusted choice for regulated industries.
The breadth of storage classes provides optimization opportunities competitors cannot match. Organizations can architect sophisticated backup strategies using S3 Intelligent-Tiering for unpredictable workloads, Standard-IA for monthly backups, and Glacier Deep Archive for multi-year retention—all managed through lifecycle policies that execute automatically without manual intervention.