Delayed Transition of Objects to Intelligent-Tiering in an S3 Bucket

Service Category

Storage

Cloud Provider

AWS

Service Name

AWS S3

Inefficiency Type

Inefficient Configuration

Explanation

Some S3 lifecycle policies are configured to transition objects from Standard storage to Intelligent-Tiering after a fixed number of days (e.g., 30 days). This creates a delay where objects reside in S3 Standard, incurring higher storage costs without benefit. Since Intelligent-Tiering does not require prior access history and can be used immediately, it is often more efficient to place objects directly into Intelligent-Tiering at the time of upload. Lifecycle transitions introduce unnecessary intermediate costs that can be avoided entirely through configuration changes.

Relevant Billing Model

S3 storage is billed per GB per month, with rates varying by storage class.

S3 Standard is the default and most expensive tier for frequently accessed data.
Intelligent-Tiering includes a small per-object monitoring and automation fee but automatically transitions data to lower-cost tiers based on access patterns.
When objects are uploaded to S3 Standard and later transitioned to Intelligent-Tiering using a lifecycle policy, you incur:
S3 Standard rates during the delay period, and
Transition request fees for moving the object

Uploading directly into Intelligent-Tiering avoids both of these.

Detection

Identify buckets where Intelligent-Tiering is the intended or primary storage class
Review how new objects are placed into those buckets—determine whether they are uploaded directly into Intelligent-Tiering or initially stored in S3 Standard and later moved to Intelligent-Tiering via a Lifecycle Policy
Evaluate whether the delay provides any functional or operational benefit, or if it is a legacy configuration
Confirm with application owners or data teams whether objects can be placed directly into Intelligent-Tiering at time of upload

Remediation

Configure applications and upload processes to default new objects directly into the S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class. If application-level changes aren’t feasible, update lifecycle rules to transition objects on day 0. This minimizes time spent in the more expensive S3 Standard tier and avoids transition request fees.

Relevant Documentation

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