If you're storing data on AWS S3 and not using lifecycle policies, you're probably overspending.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to set up S3 Lifecycle Rules to automate storage transitions, save money, and keep your data clean.
🛠️ Why S3 Lifecycle Policies Matter
S3 is one of AWS’s most used services—and for good reason. It’s durable, flexible, and easy to use.
But here’s the catch:
If you don’t actively manage your storage, your costs can quietly stack up.
Lifecycle policies help you automatically:
- ✅ Move files to cheaper storage classes
- ✅ Delete unnecessary files on schedule
📦 S3 Storage Class Cheatsheet
Storage Class | Use Case | Cost |
---|---|---|
Standard | Frequent access | 💸 High |
Intelligent-Tiering | Dynamic access patterns | ⚖️ Balanced |
One Zone-IA | Rare access, lower durability | 💵 Lower |
Glacier | Archival, infrequent access | 🧊 Very low |
Glacier Deep Archive | Long-term cold storage | ❄️ Lowest |
🧪 Use Case: Archiving Logs Automatically
Imagine you store logs that are only useful for 30 days. After that, you want to:
- Archive them to Glacier
- Delete them after 6 months
Here’s how you can do that 👇
⚙️ Step-by-Step: Setting Up an S3 Lifecycle Rule
🔹 1. Open the AWS S3 Console
Go to: S3 > Select Your Bucket > Management > Lifecycle Rules > Create Rule
🔹 2. Name Your Rule
Example: ArchiveLogsToGlacier
🔹 3. Choose Filter (Optional)
Apply the rule to:
- All objects
- A prefix (e.g.,
logs/
) - Or tagged objects Tags are great for fine-grained control. Example:
{
"project": "analytics"
}
🔹 4. Set Transitions
Transition to GLACIER after 30 days
🔹 5. Set Expiration
Delete objects after 180 days
🔹 6. Review & Create
Done! Now AWS handles the cleanup for you.
🧠 Best Practices
- ✅ Use object tagging to separate lifecycles per project
- ✅ Combine with Intelligent-Tiering when access patterns are unpredictable
- ✅ Monitor with AWS CloudTrail or CloudWatch for visibility
🧾 Example JSON Rule (for automation)
If you're using Terraform, here's a snippet:
lifecycle_rule {
id = "archive_logs"
enabled = true
prefix = "logs/"
transition {
days = 30
storage_class = "GLACIER"
}
expiration {
days = 180
}
}
🔚 Conclusion
S3 Lifecycle Policies are simple yet powerful. Whether you're managing logs, backups, or raw data dumps, they help:
Cut costs
Maintain hygiene
Automate boring tasks
💬 Your Turn!
Are you using S3 lifecycle rules yet?
Or planning to? What use cases do you have in mind?
Let me know in the comments 👇