How to Access AWS Glacier Storage for Long-Term Data

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Posted Oct 23, 2024

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To access AWS Glacier storage for long-term data, you'll need to create an AWS account and sign in to the AWS Management Console.

AWS Glacier is a highly durable and secure cloud storage service that's ideal for archiving data that you don't need immediate access to.

You can access AWS Glacier through the AWS Management Console, where you'll find the Glacier dashboard.

From here, you can create a vault, which is a container for your data, and upload your files to it.

A unique perspective: Azure Lifecycle Management

Storage Options

You have two main storage options for Amazon S3 Glacier: S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive. S3 Glacier is intended for long-term storage with low access needs, while S3 Glacier Deep Archive is designed for extremely long-term archival with even lower access needs.

Both storage classes offer flexible retrieval options, with S3 Glacier offering expedited, standard, and bulk retrieval options, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive offering standard and bulk retrieval options. This allows you to balance cost with access time, depending on your needs.

Here are the key differences between S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive:

Storage Classes

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Amazon S3 Glacier offers two storage classes: S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive. The classic S3 Glacier class is designed for long-term storage with low access needs, while S3 Glacier Deep Archive is intended for extremely long-term archival with even lower access needs.

S3 Glacier has a storage price of $0.004 per GB, with retrieval speeds ranging from minutes with Expedited retrieval to 4-5 hours with Standard retrieval. In contrast, S3 Glacier Deep Archive has a storage price of $0.00099 per GB, with retrieval speeds of 12 hours with Standard retrieval and 48 hours with Bulk retrieval.

The minimum storage duration for S3 Glacier is 90 days, with a prorated fee applied if data is deleted earlier. For S3 Glacier Deep Archive, the minimum storage duration is 180 days, with a prorated fee applied if data is deleted earlier.

Here's a comparison of the two storage classes:

As you can see, S3 Glacier Deep Archive offers a lower storage price and longer minimum storage duration, making it a good choice for extremely long-term archival needs. However, S3 Glacier may be a better option if you need faster retrieval speeds or lower retrieval costs.

Discover more: Cost of S3 Bucket

Uploading Files Directly

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You can upload files directly to Amazon S3 Glacier, bypassing standard S3 storage, starting from 2018 with S3 PUT to Glacier.

This unifies the S3 experience, allowing you to upload files to S3 Glacier similar to how you upload files to standard S3 storage classes.

There are two main methods to upload files directly to S3 Glacier: using the AWS CLI, AWS Tools for PowerShell, or MSP360 Explorer.

The AWS CLI allows you to upload files directly to S3 Glacier using the command "aws s3 cp myfile.jpg s3://my-bucket --storage-class GLACIER".

You can also use the AWS Tools for PowerShell to upload files directly to S3 Glacier from the command line.

MSP360 Explorer is another option for uploading files directly to S3 Glacier, allowing you to upload files to S3 Glacier with ease.

Here are the steps to upload a file to S3 Glacier using the AWS CLI:

  1. Use the command "aws s3 cp myfile.jpg s3://my-bucket --storage-class GLACIER".
  2. Replace "myfile.jpg" with the file you want to upload and "my-bucket" with the name of the bucket you want to use.

Keep in mind that you cannot upload archives to S3 Glacier using the management console, but you can use the AWS CLI or write code to make requests.

Uploading Files

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You can upload files directly to Amazon S3 Glacier using various tools and methods. Starting from version 6.0, MSP360 Backup supports direct upload to Glacier as well as S3 intelligent-tiering.

You can use MSP360 Explorer to upload files directly to S3 Glacier. For more information, read this blog post on uploading to S3 Glacier.

Alternatively, you can use the AWS Tools for PowerShell to upload files directly to S3 Glacier. To do this, set your BucketName and File parameter to match the desired bucket and file you want.

Another option is to use the AWS CLI to upload objects directly to S3 Glacier. Use the following command to upload a file to S3 Glacier: aws s3 cp myfile.jpg s3://my-bucket --storage-class GLACIER.

Here are the steps to upload files using the AWS CLI:

  • Use the AWS CLI to upload a file to S3 Glacier.
  • Change the “myfile.jpg” to match the file you want to be uploaded, and “my-bucket” to the name of the bucket you want to use.

After setting up the bucket, you can upload files that you wish to store using the Amazon S3 Glacier storage class.

Retrieval Time

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Accessing AWS Glacier storage can be a bit tricky, but don't worry, I've got you covered. Retrieval time is a crucial aspect to consider when working with Glacier.

You can retrieve files instantly from standard Amazon S3 storage, but with Glacier, you'll have to wait minutes, hours, or even days. This is because Glacier is designed for long-term, low-cost storage.

Expedited retrievals take a few minutes to access the data and are priced at $0.03 per GB and $0.01 per request. This is the fastest and most expensive option.

Standard retrieval makes your data accessible within 3-5 hours and is priced at $0.01 per GB and $0.05 per 1,000 requests. This is a good option if you don't need the data immediately.

Bulk retrieval requests are the slowest option and usually take 5-12 hours before your data is accessible. They're priced at $0.0025 per GB and $0.025 per 1,000 requests. This is the cheapest option and is great for restoring huge amounts of data that you don’t need immediately.

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Here's a summary of the retrieval options:

The S3 Glacier Deep Archive has two options for the retrieval time: Standard tier with the retrieval time of up to 12 hours and Bulk tier with the retrieval time of up to 48 hours.

Security and Compliance

Amazon S3 Glacier offers comprehensive security and compliance capabilities, including integration with Amazon CloudTrail to log, monitor, and retain storage API call activities for auditing.

Data stored in Amazon Glacier is encrypted by default and supports secure data transit with SSL. This ensures that your data is protected both in transit and at rest.

To access Glacier, you need credentials that AWS can use to authenticate your requests, which must have permissions to access Glacier vaults or S3 buckets. Access to Glacier requires all requests to be signed for authentication protection.

Here are some key security features of Amazon S3 Glacier:

  • Glacier encrypts data at rest by default and supports secure data transit with SSL.
  • Data stored in Amazon Glacier is immutable, meaning that after an archive is created it cannot be updated.
  • Access to Glacier requires credentials that AWS can use to authenticate your requests.
  • Glacier requires all requests to be signed for authentication protection.
  • Glacier supports policies only at the vault level.

Notification Configuration

Notification Configuration is a powerful tool in Amazon S3 Glacier that enables you to send alerts about job status changes or other events.

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By configuring notifications, you can automate system monitoring and enhance operational efficiency. This is especially useful for receiving timely updates, allowing you to respond swiftly to job completions or critical events.

You can configure notifications to be sent to Amazon SNS topics, keeping stakeholders informed of significant events or completed tasks. This helps ensure seamless data management workflows.

In November 2018, AWS added the ability to receive S3 event notifications when the restore has finished, which can be received in an SQS queue, an SNS topic, or a Lambda function.

Security

S3 Glacier offers comprehensive security and compliance capabilities, including integration with Amazon CloudTrail to log and monitor storage API call activities.

Data stored in S3 Glacier is encrypted at rest by default, and secure data transit is supported with SSL. This ensures that your data is protected from unauthorized access.

S3 Glacier also supports three different forms of encryption, which provides an additional layer of security for your archived data.

For another approach, see: Azure Blob Storage Security

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To access your data in S3 Glacier, you'll need to provide credentials that AWS can use to authenticate your requests. Those credentials must have permissions to access Glacier vaults or S3 buckets.

Here are some key security features of S3 Glacier:

  • Glacier encrypts your data at rest by default
  • Data stored in Amazon Glacier is immutable, meaning that after an archive is created it cannot be updated
  • Access to Glacier requires credentials that AWS can use to authenticate your requests
  • Glacier requires all requests to be signed for authentication protection
  • Glacier supports policies only at the vault level

By implementing these security features, you can ensure that your archived data is protected from unauthorized access and tampering.

Backup Best Practices

Having a solid backup plan is essential for security and compliance. Regular backups are a must, and it's recommended to perform them at least once a day, as seen in the "Data Backup Frequency" section.

Don't forget to test your backups regularly to ensure they're complete and can be restored successfully. This can be done by restoring a backup to a test environment.

Choose a secure location for your backups, such as an external hard drive or cloud storage, to prevent data loss in case of a physical disaster. This is in line with the "Data Storage and Protection" section.

If this caught your attention, see: Google Online Storage Backup

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Store your backups in a way that allows for easy access and retrieval, such as labeling and organizing them properly. This will save you time and effort in the long run.

Consider implementing a backup rotation policy to ensure that you have multiple versions of your data available. This is especially important for compliance purposes, as seen in the "Data Retention and Archiving" section.

Make sure to document your backup process and procedures, so you can easily reference them in case of an issue. This will also help with compliance audits and reviews.

Pricing and Cost

Amazon S3 Glacier offers extremely low-cost storage for data that's rarely accessed. A gigabyte of data in S3 Glacier Deep Archive costs only $0.00099 per month, making it a highly affordable option.

To put this in perspective, storing a terabyte of data in Deep Archive will set you back only $1.01 per month. This is a significant cost savings compared to other storage solutions.

On a similar theme: Storage Cost Azure

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You pay only for what you need with no minimum commitments or upfront fees, making it feasible to retain all the data you want for use cases like data lakes, analytics, and media asset archiving.

S3 Glacier storage classes offer low-cost storage for specific access patterns, allowing you to archive large amounts of data at a very low cost.

Here are the key pricing details for Amazon S3 Glacier:

  • You are charged per GB per month of storage.
  • You are charged for retrieval operations such as retrieve requests and amount of data retrieved depending on the data access tier – Expedited, Standard, or Bulk.
  • Upload requests are charged.
  • You are charged for data transferred out of Glacier.
  • Pricing for Glacier Select is based upon the total amount of data scanned, the amount of data returned, and the number of requests initiated.
  • There is a charge if you delete data within 90 days.

Benefits and Features

Accessing AWS Glacier storage offers several benefits, including cost savings and flexible retrieval options. You can reduce your data storage footprint and cut storage costs by integrating a data management solution like Komprise Intelligent Data Management with your AWS storage.

Komprise Intelligent Data Management allows you to move files and objects across EFS, FSX, S3 Standard, and S3 Glacier storage classes based on access patterns, optimizing data management and retrieval.

With Komprise, you can prefetch and retrieve entire projects from S3 Glacier storage classes, improving performance and reducing long latencies for users.

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Komprise also monitors retrieval costs, egress costs, and other costs to minimize them by promoting data up and recalling it intelligently to more active storage classes.

To optimize retrieval costs, consider combining S3 Glacier with S3 Standard or S3 Intelligent-Tiering. This allows you to keep frequently accessed data in Standard/Intelligent-Tiering while moving long-term, infrequently accessed data to Glacier.

Here are some additional benefits of using S3 Glacier:

  • Immutable backups: Use S3 Object Lock in combination with Glacier to create immutable backups, protecting your data against accidental deletions or ransomware attacks.
  • Efficient uploads: Use multipart uploads for large files, improving upload efficiency and ensuring data integrity.
  • Disaster recovery: Set up cross-region replication to automatically replicate data from one AWS region to another, ensuring a copy of your critical data is always available in another geographical location.

By implementing these features and strategies, you can effectively access and manage your AWS Glacier storage, reducing costs and improving performance.

Tutorial: Getting Started and Operations

Getting started with Amazon S3 Glacier is a breeze, and you can create a vault in just a few clicks.

You can create and delete vaults, which is a crucial step in setting up your Glacier storage. To manage your vaults, you can also get the vault description for a specific vault or for all vaults in a region.

If this caught your attention, see: Create Blob Storage Azure

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Before you can start storing data, you need to set up a notification configuration on the vault, which can be done by setting, retrieving, and deleting it.

Now that your vault is set up, you can start uploading archives. Keep in mind that you cannot update an existing archive, so make sure you get it right the first time.

Here's a quick rundown of Glacier operations you can perform:

  • Retrieving an archive (asynchronous operation)
  • Retrieving a vault inventory (list of archives) (asynchronous operation)
  • Upload and delete archives
  • Glacier jobs — select, archive-retrieval, inventory-retrieval

Once you've uploaded your archives, you can manage them by deleting them or retrieving them using the Glacier jobs feature.

Comparison and Overview

Amazon S3 Glacier offers two storage options: Glacier and Glacier Deep Archive. Glacier costs $0.004 per GB, while Glacier Deep Archive is significantly cheaper at $0.00099 per GB.

The retrieval speeds for Glacier are quite fast, with Expedited retrieval taking just minutes, Standard retrieval taking 4-5 hours, and Bulk retrieval taking 5-12 hours. In contrast, Glacier Deep Archive retrieval speeds are much slower, with Standard retrieval taking 12 hours and Bulk retrieval taking 48 hours.

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You can upload archives to Glacier in a single operation or in parts, but be aware that multipart upload is limited to archives up to about 10,000 x 4 GB. Unfortunately, you can't upload archives using the management console, and you'll need to use the AWS CLI or write code to make requests.

Here's a comparison table to help you visualize the key differences:

Keep in mind that you can't delete an archive using the management console, and you'll need to use the API to delete one archive at a time. Additionally, after uploading an archive, you can't update its content or description – you'll need to delete and re-upload the archive if you need to make changes.

You might enjoy: Azure Archive Storage

Specialized Use Cases

Amazon Glacier is designed for long-term data archiving, making it a great fit for organizations that need to store large amounts of data for extended periods of time.

Data that's stored in Glacier can be retrieved in as little as 3-5 minutes, but this can take up to 12 hours in some cases. This is because Glacier uses a process called "batch retrieval", where data is pulled from multiple storage nodes at once.

If you need to access your data quickly, you can use Glacier's "expedited retrieval" option, which can retrieve your data in as little as 1 minute. However, this option is more expensive than standard retrieval.

Media Asset Workflows

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Media Asset Workflows can be quite complex, especially when dealing with huge amounts of data like video and news footage that can grow to many petabytes over time.

This type of data requires durable storage and needs to be available immediately for breaking news events, video rendering, or content development. Much of this data needs to be available in milliseconds when it's needed.

The Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval storage class allows you to archive older media content affordably while still making it available in milliseconds when it's needed. This is a game-changer for media companies looking to save on storage costs.

For media archives that don't require milliseconds access, you can use S3 Glacier or S3 Glacier Deep Archive to save even more on storage costs.

Healthcare Information Archiving

Healthcare information archiving requires a reliable and cost-effective solution to store petabytes of patient records for decades. Petabytes of patient records, including LIS, PACS, and EHR, need to be retained securely at a very low cost.

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Hospital systems can use Amazon S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive storage classes to meet regulatory requirements. The Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval storage class is ideal for medical images or genomics, where milliseconds retrieval is required.

To ensure data integrity, hospitals can use multipart upload functionality in Glacier. This allows the upload of files in smaller, manageable parts, reducing the risk of failed uploads.

Here are some key benefits of using Amazon S3 Glacier for healthcare information archiving:

Scientific Storage

Scientific research generates massive amounts of data, including genomic information and machine learning model training data.

With the Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval storage class, you can store these large datasets without worrying about hardware and facility management.

This storage class offers low-cost storage, allowing research organizations to allocate their resources more efficiently.

You can retrieve data from this storage class in milliseconds, making it ideal for applications that require quick access to large datasets.

By using this storage class, research organizations can focus on analyzing and archiving their data, rather than managing their storage infrastructure.

On a similar theme: Aws S3 Storage Types

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I view files in AWS Glacier?

To view files in AWS Glacier, you'll need to initiate a vault inventory job, which will list the contents of your vault. Once the job is complete, you can view the inventory to see a list of files stored in your vault.

Gilbert Deckow

Senior Writer

Gilbert Deckow is a seasoned writer with a knack for breaking down complex technical topics into engaging and accessible content. With a focus on the ever-evolving world of cloud computing, Gilbert has established himself as a go-to expert on Azure Storage Options and related topics. Gilbert's writing style is characterized by clarity, precision, and a dash of humor, making even the most intricate concepts feel approachable and enjoyable to read.

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