Getting started with Amazon S3
Overview
Amazon S3 is an object storage service that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. You can use Amazon S3 to store and retrieve any amount of data at any time, from anywhere.
To get the most out of Amazon S3, you need to understand a few simple concepts. Amazon S3 stores data as objects within buckets. An object consists of a file and optionally any metadata that describes that file. To store an object in Amazon S3, you upload the file you want to store to a bucket. When you upload a file, you can set permissions on the object and any metadata.
Buckets are the containers for objects. You can have one or more buckets. For each bucket, you can control access to it (who can create, delete, and list objects in the bucket), view access logs for it and its objects, and choose the geographical region where Amazon S3 will store the bucket and its contents.
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How to get started
1
Set up and log into your AWS account
To use Amazon S3, you need an AWS account. If you don't already have one, you'll be prompted to create one when you sign up for Amazon S3. You will not be charged for Amazon S3 until you use it.
2
Create a bucket
Every object in Amazon S3 is stored in a bucket. Before you can store data in Amazon S3, you must create an S3 bucket.
3
Start building with AWS
Now that you've created a bucket, you're ready to add an object to it. An object can be any kind of file: a text file, a photo, a video, and so on. Read the Getting Started Guide to learn more and start building.
Most customers start developing brand new applications with the AWS developer tools and SDKs. Alternatively, a web-based interface for accessing and managing Amazon S3 resources is available via the AWS Management Console.
AWS Training
AWS offers free online storage courses to help you learn how to architect and manage highly available storage solutions built on Amazon S3. Progress from the fundamentals to technical deep dives to advance your Amazon S3 expertise and help your organization migrate to the cloud faster.
Learn more by browsing the training progression options below. Visit here for the Object Storage Learning Plan and earn a digital badge upon successful completion of the course and assessment.
Amazon S3 free online courses
Tutorials and step-by-step guides
Moving data to Amazon S3
AWS provides a portfolio of data transfer services to provide the right solution for any data migration project. The level of connectivity is a major factor in data migration, and AWS has offerings that can address your hybrid cloud storage, offline data transfer, and online data transfer needs.
Using the AWS Partner Network
Amazon S3 is integrated with third-party connectors to help you bring data in and out of the AWS Cloud. The AWS Partner Network (APN) Competency Program is designed to provide AWS customers with top quality technology and consulting providers who have demonstrated technical proficiency and proven success in specialized solutions areas. Partners who have attained an APN Competency offer a variety of services, software, and solutions that are integrated with the AWS Cloud.
AWS Storage Competency Partners can help customers evaluate and use the techniques and technologies to effectively store data in the AWS cloud.
Learn more about AWS Storage Competency Partners
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Blogs
Total results: 1742
No blog posts have been found at this time. Please see the AWS Blog for other resources.
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by Ian McRae, Balaji Raman and Tim Nguyen, 02/11/2025
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by Anuj Patel, Shailesh Doshi and Satesh Sonti, 02/10/2025
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by Asif Khan, Aditya Somayaji, Matt Haller, Nick Nguyen, Ajay Paknikar and Venkat Devarajan, 02/07/2025
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by Nuno Quental, 02/06/2025
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by Sachin Sapkale, Jeevan Kumar, Parag Samant and Puneet Sachdev, 02/05/2025
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by Tim Le Souef and Chad Moskwiak, 02/04/2025
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AWS Weekly Roundup: DeepSeek-R1, S3 Metadata, Elastic Beanstalk updates, and more (February 3, 2024)by Donnie Prakoso, 02/03/2025
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by Bimal Gajjar and Carl Summers, 01/31/2025
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by Aditya Pendyala, Deepak Chandak, Fabio Luzzi, Frank Rosalia and Muhammad Chaudhry, 01/31/2025
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by Pierre de Malliard and Christopher Cala, 01/31/2025