Most people know Amazon for the way that it has cornered the e-commerce market. And that certainly is true — online shopping and Amazon have become almost synonymous in recent years. However, the truth is that much of Amazon’s income actually comes from an entirely different source.
The Amazon Simple Storage Service is one of the bulwarks of Amazon’s revenue streams. This business-oriented storage service powers much of the world’s cloud computing requirements.
In this article, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know for an introduction to Amazon Simple Storage Service.
What is Amazon Simple Storage Service?
Put, this product of Amazon is one of the many variants of cloud storage out there. But before we get into what makes Amazon’s variant so special, let’s first make sure that we have a good understanding of cloud storage benefits.
Before cloud storage, businesses that needed to host large amounts of data had to buy the physical hardware. They needed to buy the servers, cabling, and other infrastructure for data storage. Along with the equipment, they’d also need to hire experts to serve as administrators over this particular function.
When cloud storage was introduced, businesses could outsource the hosting of copious amounts of data. Instead of buying the hardware and training the employees, they could pay a cloud provider to do it for them.
Thus Amazon Simple Storage Service is a cloud storage service that allows businesses to exchange on-premise data storage for easier, online storage. The things that differentiate Amazon’s service from the competitors are the primary factors of storage quality: its dependability, low cost, flexible pricing model, high security, and easy data transfer.
Amazon Cloud Storage Options and Cost
Now that you know what this service is, your next question is probably how much this service will set you back.
When it comes to Amazon Simple Storage Service pricing, there are a few different options that you can elect to choose from. There is the Amazon S3 for frequent and infrequent access. Frequent access will come at a higher cost since more infrastructure needs to be built.
Another option is Amazon Glacier. This option is for infrequent access that also does not need high data transfer speeds. This will allow for significant cost savings.
There are also other options for increased redundancy. This means more backups and thus more secure. You can also choose region-specific hosting (if you wanted to keep all your data in-country).
The Amazon S3 storage costs are quite flexible and can be on a pay-as-you-go model, rather than flat pricing for storage you may or may not use.
Amazon Storage, Made Simple
There you have it. Equipped with this guide to Amazon Simple Storage Service basics, you should be far better informed as to whether this cloud service is the right option for your business.
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