A Comprehensive Guide to Amazon S3 Versioning and How to Ace it in Exams

Amazon S3 versioning is one of the most important aspects in AWS Solution Architect exams.

What is S3 Versioning?
Amazon S3 versioning is a feature offered by Amazon that allows you to store multiple variants of an object in the same bucket. With versioning, you can preserve, retrieve, and restore every version of every object.

Why is it important?
Amazon S3 versioning is crucial as it provides an additional layer of protection and ensures the continuity of your work in suspense of accidental deletions or modifications.

How does S3 Versioning work?
Once enabled, S3 Versioning keeps all versions of an object (including all writes and deletes) in the bucket. When you perform a DELETE operation, all versions remain in the bucket and Amazon S3 inserts a delete marker. So, any subsequent calls to GET the object will return a 404 not found error unless and until the delete marker is removed.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on S3 Versioning:

• Understand the concept: First and foremost, have a solid understanding of the concept and function of S3 Versioning.
• Know how to enable it: Remember how to enable S3 Versioning as you may encounter questions about the process.
• Consistency model: Be aware that Amazon S3 offers eventual consistency for overwrite PUTS and DELETES, but provides read-after-write consistency for PUTS of new objects.
• Cost implications: Keep in mind that enabling versioning increases storage costs as all versions of an object are charged.
• Delete markers: Understand the role of delete markers and how they can be managed.