Getting started with Amazon S3

Overview

Amazon S3 is an object storage service that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. You can use Amazon S3 to store and retrieve any amount of data at any time, from anywhere.

To get the most out of Amazon S3, you need to understand a few simple concepts. Amazon S3 stores data as objects within buckets. An object consists of a file and optionally any metadata that describes that file. To store an object in Amazon S3, you upload the file you want to store to a bucket. When you upload a file, you can set permissions on the object and any metadata.

Buckets are the containers for objects. You can have one or more buckets. For each bucket, you can control access to it (who can create, delete, and list objects in the bucket), view access logs for it and its objects, and choose the geographical region where Amazon S3 will store the bucket and its contents.

How to get started

1

Set up and log into your AWS account

To use Amazon S3, you need an AWS account. If you don't already have one, you'll be prompted to create one when you sign up for Amazon S3. You will not be charged for Amazon S3 until you use it.  

2

Create a bucket

Every object in Amazon S3 is stored in a bucket. Before you can store data in Amazon S3, you must create an S3 bucket.

3

Start building with AWS

Now that you've created a bucket, you're ready to add an object to it. An object can be any kind of file: a text file, a photo, a video, and so on. Read the Getting Started Guide to learn more and start building.

Most customers start developing brand new applications with the AWS developer tools and SDKs. Alternatively, a web-based interface for accessing and managing Amazon S3 resources is available via the AWS Management Console.

AWS Training

AWS offers free online storage courses to help you learn how to architect and manage highly available storage solutions built on Amazon S3. Progress from the fundamentals to technical deep dives to advance your Amazon S3 expertise and help your organization migrate to the cloud faster. 

Learn more by browsing the training progression options below. Visit here for the Object Storage Learning Plan and earn a digital badge upon successful completion of the course and assessment.

Moving data to Amazon S3

AWS provides a portfolio of data transfer services to provide the right solution for any data migration project. The level of connectivity is a major factor in data migration, and AWS has offerings that can address your hybrid cloud storage, offline data transfer, and online data transfer needs.

AWS Storage Gateway is a hybrid cloud storage service that lets you seamlessly connect and extend your on-premises applications to AWS Storage. Customers use Storage Gateway for moving backups to the cloud, using on-premises file shares backed by cloud storage, and providing low latency access to data in AWS for on-premises applications. Using AWS Direct Connect, you can establish private connectivity between AWS and your data center, office, or co-location environment, which can reduce your network costs, increase throughput, and provide a more consistent network experience than public internet connections.

AWS Snowball accelerates moving offline data or remote storage to the cloud. With AWS Snowball, you can easily migrate petabytes of data to the cloud without limits in storage capacity or compute power. These devices are purpose-built for use in edge locations where network capacity is constrained or nonexistent and provide storage and computing capabilities in harsh environments. 

AWS DataSync makes it easy and efficient to transfer hundreds of terabytes and millions of files into Amazon S3, up to 10x faster than open-source tools. DataSync automatically handles or eliminates many manual tasks, including scripting copy jobs, scheduling and monitoring transfers, validating data, and optimizing network utilization. Using Snowcone, you can even transfer data online with AWS DataSync from edge locations.

The AWS Transfer Family provides fully managed, simple, and seamless file transfer to Amazon S3 using SFTP, FTPS, and FTP.

Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration enables fast transfers of files over long distances between your client and your Amazon S3 bucket. Amazon Kinesis and AWS IoT Core make it simple and secure to capture and load streaming data from IoT devices to Amazon S3.

Learn more about AWS cloud data migration services

Using the AWS Partner Network

Amazon S3 is integrated with third-party connectors to help you bring data in and out of the AWS Cloud. The AWS Partner Network (APN) Competency Program is designed to provide AWS customers with top quality technology and consulting providers who have demonstrated technical proficiency and proven success in specialized solutions areas. Partners who have attained an APN Competency offer a variety of services, software, and solutions that are integrated with the AWS Cloud.

AWS Storage Competency Partners can help customers evaluate and use the techniques and technologies to effectively store data in the AWS cloud.

Learn more about AWS Storage Competency Partners

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