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Ekule Mbeng - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at United Vision
Real User
Object storage service that provides comprehensive security and MFA that prevents accidental deletion of data
Pros and Cons
  • "The versioning of this solution for accidental deletion has been most valuable."
  • "You need to fully understand the solution's best practices to get the most out of its security features."

What is our primary use case?

We use Amazon s3 to store objects like data in my environment.

How has it helped my organization?

In one of my previous environments, I was brought in to help with the challenges they were facing resulting from a data breach in the S3 bucket. What I noticed in that environment was that every user had full access into their S3 bucket, and accidentally deleted data without a trace.

They did not know how some of their data was missing. One of the first services I suggested was enforcing access control by applying IM best practices, such as granting list privilege permission to our users to avoid overpowering them. I created a single group and then applied specific permissions to that group.

All users added to that group were able to inherit the same permission and privileges. Versioning was enabled which keeps multiple variant of objects in the same bucket and also safeguards against accidental deletions. I also enabled multi-factor authentication which prevented accidental bug deletion by requiring the user who initiate the delete action to prove physical possession of an MFA device with an MFA code. 

What is most valuable?

The versioning of this solution for accidental deletion has been most valuable. 

What needs improvement?

You need to fully understand the solution's best practices to get the most out of its security features. 

Buyer's Guide
Amazon S3
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Amazon S3. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
830,526 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. 

What was our ROI?

We have seen a return on investment with S3.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten. Pricing depends on a particular class where you want save your objects. There are different classes when it comes to storage in S3.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise others that this is a scalable solution that offers comprehensive security. 

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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    Souvik Banerjee - PeerSpot reviewer
    Software Development Engineer at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
    Real User
    Top 5Leaderboard
    Helpful for storing data, easy deployment, and useful encryption
    Pros and Cons
    • "An important feature of the Amazon S3's system is that it offers encryption while the files are at rest. This is crucial in ensuring the security of the files being restored and addressing potential security risks. That's what I would emphasize."
    • "The cost of the solution should be reduced."

    What is our primary use case?

    Most people who need to store files usually turn to Amazon S3. The use case for this is not only for me but for anyone building technology who needs to store files.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Amazon S3 helps to store data, such as Excel, audio, and video.

    What is most valuable?

    An important feature of the Amazon S3's system is that it offers encryption while the files are at rest. This is crucial in ensuring the security of the files being restored and addressing potential security risks. That's what I would emphasize.

    What needs improvement?

    The cost of the solution should be reduced.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Amazon S3 for a long time.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I rate the stability of Amazon S3 a ten out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I rate the scalability of Amazon S3 a ten out of ten.

    How are customer service and support?

    I rate the support of Amazon S3 a seven out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Neutral

    How was the initial setup?

    The implementation of Amazon S3 was easy.

    What about the implementation team?

    I did the implementation of the solution myself.

    What was our ROI?

    I have received a return on investment using Amazon S3.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price of Amazon S3 should be reduced.

    I rate the price of Amazon S3 a ten out of ten.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I did not evaluate other solutions before choosing Amazon S3.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Amazon S3 a nine out of ten.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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      Buyer's Guide
      Amazon S3
      January 2025
      Learn what your peers think about Amazon S3. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
      830,526 professionals have used our research since 2012.
      Manasa Jayaramaiah - PeerSpot reviewer
      Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
      Real User
      Great for data storage although upload speeds are sometimes slow
      Pros and Cons
      • "Great for storing all types of data."
      • "The upload speed for data and documents is sometimes slow."

      What is our primary use case?

      Our primary use of S3 is for storing data. I'm a senior associate. 

      What is most valuable?

      This solution is valuable in that it helps us store all types of data. It's also easy to delete data when necessary and it's very user-friendly.

      What needs improvement?

      The upload speed for data and documents is sometimes slow and it would be helpful if that were improved. The other issue is that downloading data is quite expensive. 

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have used this solution for the past three years. 

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      We occasionally face stability issues with respect to upload speed but it's very rare. 

      How are customer service and support?

      The customer support is good but it could be improved. When we raise a ticket, sometimes we have to make a follow-up call because we haven't heard back from them. 

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      Positive

      How was the initial setup?

      The initial setup was easy. 

      Which other solutions did I evaluate?

      I find Amazon to be more efficient and more scalable compared to other solutions on the market. 

      What other advice do I have?

      I find this solution good for both structured and non-structured data, as well as data access and encryption. It reads more requests per second than other solutions. 

      I rate this solution seven out of 10. 

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      Public Cloud
      Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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        Victor Bergman - PeerSpot reviewer
        Executive Head of Technology at Imbali Customised Solutions (Pty) Ltd.
        Real User
        Top 5
        It's more stable and high-performing than its Azure counterpart
        Pros and Cons
        • "I've also used Azure's tool, and S3 is far more stable I haven't seen the same issues on AWS that I'm having on Azure. Amazon CloudFront is way faster. The websites are loading way faster than when you do it on Azure CDN."
        • "I would also like S3 to have the ability to do dynamic websites without the need to do reconfigurations outside of S3. You should be able to switch on dynamic websites in S3, and then it works. I shouldn't need to go elsewhere within Amazon Web Services to get a dynamic website to work."

        What is our primary use case?

        I'm a consultant who provides services for companies of various sizes here in South Africa. Our company is still small, with only about 20 clients. I use S3 for hosting my websites and other storage services. S3 can be used for static and dynamic websites as well as file storage. In terms of dynamic websites, I use S3 in addition to other technologies in a computerless environment. In other words, I don't need a virtual machine to have a dynamic website hosted on Amazon Web Services.

        What is most valuable?

        E3's most valuable feature is CloudFront.

        What needs improvement?

        You need to do some things to make the files and updates immediately accessible. If you don't know those steps, you will wait forever for your updates to take effect or be seen by the public.

        That is the only area where a newcomer might get frustrated with hosting on S3. The files are available immediately when they are first deployed, but it takes some time when they make changes if you don't understand the simple procedure you need to follow for it to happen immediately.

        The process needed to show updates immediately is a problem. You have to go somewhere to delete whatever is propagated and restart the propagation somehow. That is the only issue that I think they could fix with hosting on S3 as far as websites are concerned.

        I would also like S3 to have the ability to do dynamic websites without the need to do reconfigurations outside of S3. You should be able to switch on dynamic websites in S3, and then it works. I shouldn't need to go elsewhere within Amazon Web Services to get a dynamic website to work.

        For how long have I used the solution?

        I've been using S3 for about three years 

        What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

        It's a cloud service, so our scalability is good. I haven't had any issues. At the same time, I haven't had a situation where a client needed to expand the footprint of their site tremendously. I don't have massive clients like Netflix.

        How are customer service and support?

        I was never in a position where I needed to request AWS tech support.

        Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

        I've also used Azure's tool, and S3 is far more stable I haven't seen the same issues on AWS that I'm having on Azure. Amazon CloudFront is way faster. The websites are loading way faster than when you do it on Azure CDN.

        Another advantage of S3 over CDN is the fact that I can deploy my websites on Amazon S3 with the root domain and the sub-domain loading the website. When using CDN, you cannot load the website with the root domain.

        How was the initial setup?

        In the beginning, it wasn't easy. S3 was a little cumbersome when I started using it. With updates, it became easier to set up static websites. However, deploying dynamic websites in S3 is still difficult. You need to take notes on what you're doing so you can do the next dynamic website. 

        The deployment is quite fast. You upload files, and that's it.

        What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

        There a no license fees. E3 is a cloud service, and you pay as you go. Your encryption licenses are free, so you only pay for the storage you're using. It's extremely inexpensive. 

        What other advice do I have?

        I rate Amazon S3 10 out of 10. S3 is highly cost-effective, so I would definitely recommend it.

        Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

        Public Cloud

        If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

        Amazon Web Services (AWS)
        Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

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          RahulJadhav - PeerSpot reviewer
          Hadoop Administrator at Capgemini
          Real User
          Offers high availability, fault tolerance and scalability
          Pros and Cons
          • "We can store incremental data and get high availability and fault tolerance."
          • "The read drive speed is not as fast as it should be."

          What is our primary use case?

          We use this solution for storing the input-output of our processing. We are customers of Amazon. 

          What is most valuable?

          Version control is great, it means we can store incremental data, and get high availability and fault tolerance. If we accidentally delete something we can recover it by using S3. It also enables the option of reverting to old files. 

          What needs improvement?

          The read drive speed is not as fast as it should be. If we want to access data, we should be able to do it quickly. 

          For how long have I used the solution?

          I've been using this solution for five years. 

          What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

          The solution is scalable, there are no limitations on storage. There are around 10,000 users in the company. 

          How are customer service and support?

          Amazon provides good documentation for this solution so we've never contacted technical support. 

          How was the initial setup?

          The initial setup is easy. It just requires logging in to AWS, and it's available.

          What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

          This is a pay-as-you-use, on-demand service. It's not very expensive. 

          Which other solutions did I evaluate?

          We went with S3 because of its high availability, fault tolerance and scalability. Those are the three main reasons we chose it. 

          Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

          Public Cloud

          If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

          Amazon Web Services (AWS)
          Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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            Darshan Divekar - PeerSpot reviewer
            Senior Technical Manager -Information Technology at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
            Real User
            Reliable, responsive support, and scalable
            Pros and Cons
            • "Amazon S3 is a stable solution."
            • "Amazon S3 could improve the load balancers. They are very basic compared to other solutions in the industry, such as F5. It has to be able to be analyzed up to a certain level."

            What is our primary use case?

            We have multiple use cases for Amazon S3. We use Amazon S3 for storing static data and as a static site load balancer.

            What needs improvement?

            Amazon S3 could improve the load balancers. They are very basic compared to other solutions in the industry, such as F5. It has to be able to be analyzed up to a certain level. 

            The basic features need some improvement, users should not have to use any third-party solutions, Amazon S3 should provide those particular features. The feature at present does not suffice most of the requirements of an enterprise-class organization.

            The security could improve in Amazon S3. I am not seeing any value in the solution in security.

            For how long have I used the solution?

            I have been using Amazon S3 for more than two and a half years.

            What do I think about the stability of the solution?

            Amazon S3 is a stable solution.

            What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

            The scalability of Amazon S3 is good. However, it could be changed to make it much better than it is today.

            We have approximately 25 projects that are using this solution.

            How are customer service and support?

            We have 24/h support from Amazon S3 and their support has been very good. We have had quick response times. Within two to three days our issue gets resolved.

            I rate the support from Amazon S3 a four out of five.

            How would you rate customer service and support?

            Positive

            How was the initial setup?

            The initial setup of Amazon S3 is of a medium level of difficulty. It's not easy or difficult. There are certain things that need to change from a documentation perspective, or from an ease of use perspective. The configuration needs to be more user-friendly. The full deployment of Amazon S3 took approximately 15 days.

            What about the implementation team?

            We did the implementation of Amazon S3 in-house.

            What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

            There is a license to use Amazon S3.

            Which other solutions did I evaluate?

            Before doing any project we have criteria sheets to follow, we evaluate any solution on-premise or on the cloud. We compare all the cloud solutions, such as Oracle, Azure, and GCP, and whichever solution we find better for our requirement, we design a solution using it.

            Our main corporate website is posted on Amazon S3 and our evaluations determined Amazon S3 was the best solution for our use case. This is why we choose it.

            What other advice do I have?

            My advice to others is Amazon S3 is a good solution. However, it depends on the use case that you have. This will determine if this solution is the best fit or if another solution would be better. The requirements of your use case have to be met.

            I rate Amazon S3 an eight out of ten.

            Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

            Public Cloud

            If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

            Amazon Web Services (AWS)
            Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

            PeerSpot user
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              reviewer1975647 - PeerSpot reviewer
              Senior Solutions Architect at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
              Real User
              Top 5Leaderboard
              A very strong internet storage solution, with great archival capabilities
              Pros and Cons
              • "We find the archival capabilities of this solution quite valuable, because we can have set policies of exactly when, and what to archive."
              • "We would like to see improvement in the ability to moves files within this solution. At present the process is not straightforward, and requires us to download files to our micro service service before then uploading into the solution. In addition, the transfer bit rate for the process is very slow."

              What is our primary use case?

              We use this solution as readily available internet storage.

              What is most valuable?

              We find the archival capabilities of this solution quite valuable, because we can have set policies of exactly when, and what to archive. 

              What needs improvement?

              We would like to see improvement in the ability to moves files within this solution. At present the process is not straightforward, and requires us to download files to our micro service service before then uploading into the solution. In addition, the transfer bit rate for the process is very slow.

              For how long have I used the solution?

              We have been working with this solution for around five years.

              What do I think about the stability of the solution?

              We have found this to be a very stable solution.

              What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

              This is a very scalable solution.

              How are customer service and support?

              We have found the technical support for this product to be pretty good.

              What other advice do I have?

              We would recommend potential users of this solution to ensure they have micro-services in place, in order to carry out data transfers.

              We would rate this solution a 10 out of 10.

              Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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                Zeev Snir - PeerSpot reviewer
                Senior Lead Practice Architect at Ness Technologies
                Vendor
                Responsive support, reliable, and easy setup
                Pros and Cons
                • "The scalability of Amazon S3 is good."
                • "Amazon S3 needs to simplify the backup features."

                What is our primary use case?

                Amazon S3 can be used for central storage, backup, log, and storage.

                How has it helped my organization?

                The reliability that Amazon S3 has provided has improved organizations.

                What needs improvement?

                Amazon S3 needs to simplify the backup features.

                For how long have I used the solution?

                I have been using Amazon S3 for approximately 10 years.

                What do I think about the stability of the solution?

                Amazon S3 is a stable solution.

                What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

                The scalability of Amazon S3 is good.

                How are customer service and support?

                The support from Amazon S3 has been knowledgable and responsive.

                I rate the support from Amazon S3 a five out of five.

                How was the initial setup?

                The initial setup of Amazon S3 is easy, it can be done in less than one day.

                What about the implementation team?

                We handle the implementation of Amazon S3. We have approximately 40 people that are able to do it.

                What was our ROI?

                It has been difficult for us to determine ROI.

                What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

                The license of Amazon S3 is based on volume, capacity, and time. The overall price of the solution could improve. The support has to be added if you want it at an additional cost.

                What other advice do I have?

                My advice to others is to pay attention to the backups and copies in Snapshots.

                I rate Amazon S3 a seven out of ten.

                Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

                Public Cloud
                Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

                PeerSpot user
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                  Buyer's Guide
                  Download our free Amazon S3 Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
                  Updated: January 2025
                  Buyer's Guide
                  Download our free Amazon S3 Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
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