Storage classes

The Standard storage class provides highly reliable, highly available, and high-performance object storage services that support frequent data access. It is suitable for business scenarios such as images and audio and video files for social networking and content sharing, large websites, and big data analytics. The Standard storage class supports both zone-redundant storage (ZRS) and locally redundant storage (LRS).

Use Standard for frequently accessed data requiring real-time reads, such as websites, apps, and streaming media. Standard is the default storage class for uploaded objects.

• Standard - Zone-redundant storage (Recommended)

  For regions with three or more zones, ZRS uses a multi-zone mechanism to store your data redundantly across at least three zones in the same region. If one zone becomes unavailable, your data remains accessible. For regions with two zones, ZRS uses a dual-zone mechanism to store your data across both zones in the same region. If one zone becomes unavailable, your data also remains accessible. Currently, dual-zone ZRS is supported only for the Standard storage class.

  Note

  The China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Ulanqab), China (Shenzhen), China (Hong Kong), Japan (Tokyo), Singapore, Indonesia (Jakarta), Germany (Frankfurt), and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) regions use a multi-zone data redundancy mechanism for data in the Standard storage class. The US (Silicon Valley), US (Virginia), Philippines (Manila), Thailand (Bangkok), South Korea (Seoul), UAE (Dubai), and UK (London) regions use a dual-zone data redundancy mechanism for data in the Standard storage class.

• Standard - Locally redundant storage

  LRS stores multiple copies of your data on multiple devices of different facilities in the same zone. LRS provides data durability and availability even if hardware failures occur.

  Important

  LRS stores multiple data copies in a single zone. If the zone becomes unavailable, data in the zone is inaccessible. If your business application requires higher availability, we recommend that you use ZRS.

Infrequent Access (IA)

Archive

The Archive storage class provides highly durable object storage services at extremely low storage costs. This storage class has a minimum billable size (64 KB) and a minimum storage duration (60 days). You can access Archive data after you restore it (which takes about 1 minute) or access it directly. A capacity-based retrieval fee for Archive data is charged when you access data after restoration, and a capacity-based retrieval fee for real-time access of Archive data is charged when you access data directly. The Archive storage class is suitable for scenarios in which data is stored for a long period of time, such as archival data, medical images, scientific materials, and video and film footage. The Archive storage class supports both zone-redundant storage and locally redundant storage.

Use Archive for data accessed less than once every 90 days, such as media archives, financial records, or compliance logs. Archive costs significantly less than Standard. Data can be restored in about 1 minute or accessed directly without restoration.

• Archive - Zone-redundant storage (Recommended)

  ZRS stores multiple copies of your data across multiple zones in the same region. Your data is still accessible even if a zone becomes unavailable.

  Note

  The China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Ulanqab), China (Shenzhen), China (Hong Kong), Japan (Tokyo), Singapore, Indonesia (Jakarta), Germany (Frankfurt), and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) regions use a multi-zone data redundancy mechanism for data in the Archive storage class.

• Archive - Locally redundant storage

  LRS stores multiple copies of your data on multiple devices of different facilities in the same zone. LRS provides data durability and availability even if hardware failures occur.

  Important

  LRS stores multiple data copies in a single zone. If the zone becomes unavailable, data in the zone is inaccessible. If your business application requires higher availability, we recommend that you use ZRS.

Cold Archive

The Cold Archive storage class provides highly durable object storage services at lower storage costs than the Archive storage class. This storage class has a minimum billable size (64 KB) and a minimum storage duration (180 days). You must restore data before you can access it. The restoration time depends on the size of the data and the selected restoration mode. A data retrieval fee and a retrieval request fee are charged during restoration. The Cold Archive storage class is suitable for cold data that must be stored for an ultra-long period of time, such as data that must be retained for a long period of time for compliance requirements, raw data accumulated over a long period of time in the big data and AI fields, media resources retained for a long period of time in the film and television industry, and archived videos in the online education industry. The Cold Archive storage class supports only locally redundant storage.

Use Cold Archive for data accessed less than once a year that still needs retrieval within hours, such as regulatory archives, audit logs, or long-term retention data. Restoration takes 1 to 12 hours.

Deep Cold Archive

The Deep Cold Archive storage class provides highly durable object storage services at lower storage costs than the Cold Archive storage class. This storage class has a minimum billable size (64 KB) and a minimum storage duration (180 days). You must restore data before you can access it. The restoration time depends on the size of the data and the selected restoration mode. A data retrieval fee and a retrieval request fee are charged during restoration. The Deep Cold Archive storage class is suitable for extremely cold data that must be stored for an ultra-long period of time, such as raw data accumulated over a long period of time in the big data and AI fields, media data retained for a long period of time, regulatory and compliance archives, and tape replacement. The Deep Cold Archive storage class supports only locally redundant storage.

Use Deep Cold Archive for data that is almost never accessed and can tolerate 12- or 48-hour restoration, such as compliance archives, digital preservation, or cold disaster recovery data.