Overview
Archive storage (e.g., Amazon S3 Glacier, Google Cloud Archive Storage) is the most cost-effective tier for data that must be kept for years but is almost never accessed. It is ideal for regulatory compliance, long-term backups, and historical data.
Key Characteristics
- Ultra-low Cost: The lowest price per GB of any cloud storage tier.
- Retrieval Latency: Retrieving data can take anywhere from minutes to several hours, depending on the retrieval option chosen.
- Durability: Designed for 99.999999999% (11 nines) of durability.
- Minimum Retention: Often has a minimum storage duration (e.g., 90 or 180 days).
Use Cases
- Healthcare records retention.
- Financial audit logs.
- Media asset preservation.
- Deep backups for disaster recovery.