Guide to Understanding S3 Storage Classes

S3 Storage Classes are an integral part of Amazon Web Services (AWS). They play a crucial role in the data retention and accessibility strategy depending on the use case. Understanding these classes is important for optimal usage and cost-effectiveness of AWS.

The six types of S3 Storage Classes include: Standard, Intelligent Tiering, One Zone-Infrequent Access, Multi-Zone-Infrequent Access, Glacier, and Glacier Deep Archive. Each of these has specific performance, cost, and accessibility characteristics. Depending upon the frequency of access and retention period of data, different storage classes can be chosen.

How they work: When an object is stored in S3, Amazon automatically stores it across multiple systems to ensure durability and availability. The storage class of an object can be defined at the time of its creation, and changed any time after.

Exam Tips: To answer questions regarding S3 Storage Classes, understand the use case described in the question and use your knowledge of the attributes of each storage class to choose the one that best fits the use case. Remember, Standard is for frequently accessed data, while the IA and Glacier classes are for less frequently accessed data. Knowing the cost difference between the classes can also help choose the correct answer. Draw upon your practical experience while answering. This will give you a better understanding and thus, better exam score.