A data lake holds objects whose access frequency is unknown and changes over time; some objects go untouched for months then spike. Retrieval must remain millisecond-latency. Which storage class automatically optimizes cost?
A.S3 Standard
Standard never tiers down, so rarely-accessed objects keep paying the highest price.
B.S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Correct. Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between access tiers as patterns change.
C.S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Deep Archive has hours-long retrieval, violating the latency requirement.
D.S3 One Zone-IA
One Zone-IA trades away multi-AZ resilience and cannot adapt to changing patterns.
Why this answer
S3 Intelligent-Tiering monitors access patterns and automatically moves objects between frequent/infrequent/archive-access tiers, keeping millisecond retrieval while reducing cost — designed exactly for unknown or changing access patterns.
Correct answer: B · Last reviewed 2026-10-25
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