What is the difference between Amazon S3 and Amazon Glacier?

Amazon S3 and Amazon Glacier serve distinct purposes in AWS cloud storage solutions, primarily centered around access frequency and storage duration.

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is designed for frequent access to data. It enables users to store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere on the web, making it an ideal choice for applications that require high-performance data retrieval. This includes hosting static websites, managing big data analytics, or serving dynamic content. S3 provides various storage classes that optimize costs based on how often data is accessed.

On the other hand, Amazon Glacier is specifically designed for long-term archival storage. It targets use cases where data is infrequently accessed but needs to be retained for long periods, such as compliance or regulatory data retention. Glacier is a low-cost storage option that allows users to store data for extended periods, with retrieval times that can vary from minutes to hours depending on the retrieval option selected.

Understanding this distinction helps in selecting the appropriate storage solution for specific use cases, ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness when managing data in the AWS environment.