Cloud Computing — AWS — Part 9

Introduction to Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) | AWS S3 Service

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is a scalable, secure cloud storage service offered by AWS. It allows users to store and retrieve data, including documents, images, videos, and backups, with high durability and availability. S3 supports features like versioning, lifecycle management, and access control for data security.

When to Use S3: Use S3 when you need scalable, reliable, and secure cloud storage for any amount of data. It’s ideal for storing backup files, static content, data lakes, and logs, or for hosting static websites. S3 is cost-effective and offers high performance and integration with other AWS services.

Why a Developer Should Use S3 Developers use S3 to store and retrieve application data, such as files, images, and backups, with minimal configuration. It offers a cost-effective, scalable solution for managing large data volumes, supports seamless integration with other AWS services, and simplifies workflows for cloud-based applications.

How to Create Bucket in AWS | Create S3 Bucket | Create First Bucket:

An S3 bucket in AWS is a storage container for objects (files). It allows you to upload, store, and manage data with unique, globally recognized names. Buckets are region-specific, and access is controlled using IAM, policies, and permissions. They support features like versioning, lifecycle rules, and encryption.

In Amazon S3, objects are the individual pieces of data stored within a bucket. An object consists of:

1. Data: The actual content (e.g., a file like a photo, video, or document).

2. Metadata: Information about the object, such as its size, type, and custom metadata.

3. Key: A unique identifier (name) for the object within a bucket, used to retrieve it.

Objects are the basic unit of storage in Amazon S3, and they can be any type of file or data.

Where can I find S3?

Following window will appear:

Click on create bucket option: Following screen will appear

Fill the details and select options as required or just leave it default:

Scroll down and click on Orange button and the following confirmation will occcurs:

Where can we upload the files? Files here are called as objects, they will be uploaded inside the bucket as shown:

Public your Bucket Object | Policy Generator | Allow Object to Public

Making a file in AWS S3 accessible via URL enables easy access, global distribution, and integration with other AWS services. It offers scalability, cost-efficiency, and security through encryption, access controls, and presigned URLs. This simplifies sharing, enhances user experience, and reduces server load while supporting content delivery globally.

So, how can we change the access to public one? Go to the bucket:

Click on the permission menu:

Now, click on edit button of “Block public access” section: and uncheck the box:

Scroll to the Bucket policy section and click on “edit” button: click on “policy generator”

Click on “policy generator”: Following window will appear

Fill the form like this:

Then click on “Add Statement” and then on “generate policy” then the following screen will appear:

Copy it and click on the close button.

Now, return to the “edit bucket policy” tab: Copy paste the JSON

Following confirmation will occur:

Now, we can access the uploaded object using the url.

S3 Object — S3 Object Properties — S3 Object Metadata — S3 Object Key:

S3 Object

An S3 object refers to a file stored in Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service). Each object consists of the file data, metadata, and a unique identifier known as the object key. Objects can range in size from a few bytes to 5 terabytes and are highly durable and accessible.

S3 Object Properties

S3 object properties refer to attributes that define the characteristics and behavior of an object within an S3 bucket. These include the object’s size, storage class (e.g., Standard, Intelligent-Tiering), and encryption settings. Properties are essential for managing access control, cost optimization, and data retrieval strategies.

S3 Object Metadata

S3 object metadata consists of key-value pairs that describe additional information about an object, such as its content type, last modified date, or custom user-defined tags. There are two types: system-defined metadata (e.g., Content-Type) and user-defined metadata (e.g., custom labels), both aiding in object management and processing.

S3 Object Key

An S3 object key is the unique identifier for an object within a specific S3 bucket. It functions as the “filename” and is used to retrieve or manage the object. Object keys can be structured hierarchically using slashes (e.g., folder/subfolder/file.txt) to organize data efficiently within buckets.

Where can we see these properties? Open the Object in the S3 bucket:

Then click on the uploaded object:

Scroll down to see the metadata:

S3 Versioning — What is Versioning — Prevent a Object from Deletion

S3 Versioning in AWS allows multiple versions of an object to exist within a single S3 bucket. When enabled, every modification or deletion of an object is tracked as a new version, preserving the previous ones. This helps protect against accidental deletions or overwrites and supports data recovery.

Suppose we had uploaded an object to the bucket, now we again uploaded one another object with same name to the same bucket, then what will happen?

The old one will be replaced by the new one.

So, how can we get the old one back?

Enable the versoning opion of the bucket from the properties of it:

Click on the edit button and then on the “enable” option, and then save changes:

Now upload a file, say 1.png:

Now, following confirmation will occur:

Now, again upload a file, which be different but with the same name:

So, if we open the new uploaded one we can see that the older one is no longer over there, so how to access it? Since we had enabled the versoning, we can see the older version, just go to the Objects section of the Buckets, and Click on the button “Show versions”:

Now, what if we delete an object by mistake? Versoning allows us to recover it as well.

But, what if we want to permanently delete it? We can do it as: select the version and click on the delete button

Type the bottom field and click on delete object button:

Note: We can just suspend the versoning but can’t disable it. It means, the versoning done before will be available.

Host Static Website in S3 -How to host Static Website in S3

Hosting a static website on AWS S3 offers scalability, high availability, and low cost. S3 ensures fast content delivery with minimal management, leveraging AWS’s global network. It’s secure, integrates easily with other AWS services, and supports custom domains and HTTPS, making it an efficient solution for hosting static websites.

From where we can host a static website? Go to buckets, and then to the properties: Scroll down to see the Static website hosting option:

Now,

Click on the edit button: Following window will appear:

The moment we will click on the “enable” radio button, the moment following fields will appear:

Enter those file names, which exists in your bucket. Also, public the objets of the bucket.

But, how can we access this website then? Just save the changes, and scroll down again to the static website section, and copy paste the URL.

How to Redirect in S3 Static Website From one to another:

To redirect one S3 static website to another, you can set up HTTP redirects using an S3 bucket’s “website configuration”. Here’s how you can do it briefly:

Steps to Redirect S3 Static Website:

1. Create a New S3 Bucket (Target Bucket):

o Go to the S3 console and create a new bucket for your redirect (e.g., new-website.com).

o Ensure the bucket name matches the domain you want to redirect to (for example, www.new-website.com)..)

1. Enable Static Website Hosting:

o In the Bucket properties tab, under Static website hosting, choose Enable.

o Select the option Redirect requests and enter the target URL where you want traffic to be redirected (e.g., http://new-website.com or https://new-website.com)..)

1. Configure Redirect for the Source Bucket:

o Create a bucket for your source website (e.g., old-website.com).

o Enable Static website hosting in the properties section for the source bucket.

o Under Index document, you can specify an empty file like index.html, but more importantly, under Redirection rules, you can define a set of rules for HTTP redirects if you want specific redirects (optional).

1. Add Route 53 or DNS Configuration:

o Point your domain (e.g., old-website.com) to the source S3 bucket (use a CNAME record in Route 53 or your DNS service). This ensures the source domain resolves to the bucket.

1. Testing:

o After completing the setup, test the redirection by visiting the old URL (e.g., old-website.com), and it should automatically redirect to the new domain (new-website.com).

How to Change Prefix in Static Website S3 — Redirect S3 Prefix in S3

To change or redirect a prefix in an S3 static website:

1. Create Redirection Rules: In the S3 bucket where the website is hosted, go to Properties > Static website hosting and configure Redirection rules.

2. Set the Prefix Redirect: Use the following example in the redirection rules to change or redirect a specific prefix:

{

“RoutingRules”: [

{

“Condition”: {

“KeyPrefixEquals”: “old-prefix/”

},

“Redirect”: {

“HostName”: “new-website.com”,

“ReplaceKeyPrefixWith”: “new-prefix/”

}

}

]

}

3. Test: Ensure the URLs with the old prefix (e.g., old-prefix/page.html) automatically redirect to the new one (e.g., new-prefix/page.html).

This approach allows you to manage and redirect specific URL prefixes to a new location within the same or different S3 bucket.

S3 Accelerated Transfer, How to Enable? How to Use Accelerated Transfer?

S3 Accelerated Transfer: Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads to S3 buckets by routing traffic through Amazon’s CloudFront edge locations. It reduces latency and improves performance for long-distance transfers.

How to Enable: To enable, go to the S3 console, select your bucket, navigate to “Properties”, and turn on “Transfer Acceleration.”

How to Use: Once enabled, use the transfer-acceleration URL (e.g., your-bucket-name.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com) for uploads. Use standard S3 APIs or tools like AWS CLI, specifying this URL to take advantage of accelerated transfer speeds.

Let’s first create a bucket:

Where can we find the Tranfer acceleration in a S3 bucket? Bucket name -> Properties (scroll down to see the Transfer acceleration)

Now, click on the “edit” button: Click on the enable radio button and then save changes button

Following confirmation will occur:

So, how does this work?

S3 Transfer Acceleration works by routing your upload requests through a network of CloudFront edge locations. When you upload data to an S3 bucket using an accelerated endpoint, your data is sent to the nearest edge location, where it is then securely transferred to the S3 bucket over optimized AWS network routes.

This reduces the travel time for your data, speeding up transfers, especially for large files or long-distance uploads from regions far from your S3 bucket’s main location.

Now, open the CMD:

Give the user credentials:

Now, to upload a file to the S3 bucket: normal method

Now, to upload a file to the S3 bucket: accelerated transfer method

Contact Me: 📧 Email: adii.utsav@gmail.com 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditya-kumar-3241b6286/ 💻 GitHub: https://github.com/Rememberful