Data in S3 has UNKNOWN and changing access patterns — the team can't predict lifecycle rules. Which storage class optimizes cost automatically?
A.S3 Standard
No optimization — you pay Standard rates for cold data.
B.S3 Intelligent-Tiering — automatic tier moves based on access
Correct. Auto-tiering for unpredictable access.
C.S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Hours-long retrieval — wrong for unpredictable access.
D.S3 One Zone-IA
One Zone-IA trades availability for price — no auto-tiering.
Why this answer
Intelligent-Tiering monitors access and moves objects between frequent/infrequent/archive tiers automatically — the answer whenever access patterns are unknown or changing, for a small per-object monitoring fee. Glacier tiers are for known-cold data with retrieval-time tradeoffs.
Correct answer: B · Last reviewed 2026-11-03
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