Restoring Archived Objects
Objects archived to Amazon Glacier are not accessible in real-time. You must first
initiate a
restore request and then wait until a temporary copy of the object is available for
the
duration (number of days) that you specify in the request. The time it takes restore
jobs to
complete depends on which retrieval option you specify Standard,
Expedited, or Bulk. For
more information about archiving objects to Amazon Glacier, see Transitioning to the GLACIER
Storage Class (Object Archival).
After you receive a temporary copy of the restored object, the object's storage class
remains GLACIER (a GET or HEAD request will return GLACIER as the
storage class). Note that when you restore an archive you pay for both the archive
(GLACIER
rate) and a copy you restored temporarily (RRS rate). For information about pricing, see
Amazon S3 Pricing.
The following topics provide more information.
Topics
Archive Retrieval Options
You can specify one of the following when restoring an archived object:
-
Expedited- Expedited retrievals allow you to quickly access your data when occasional urgent requests for a subset of archives are required. For all but the largest archived objects (250 MB+), data accessed using Expedited retrievals are typically made available within 1–5 minutes. There are two types of Expedited retrievals: On-Demand and Provisioned. On-Demand requests are similar to EC2 On-Demand instances and are available most of the time. Provisioned requests are guaranteed to be available when you need them. For more information, see Provisioned Capacity. -
Standard- Standard retrievals allow you to access any of your archived objects within several hours. Standard retrievals typically complete within 3–5 hours. This is the default option for retrieval requests that do not specify the retrieval option. -
Bulk- Bulk retrievals are Amazon Glacier’s lowest-cost retrieval option, enabling you to retrieve large amounts, even petabytes, of data inexpensively in a day. Bulk retrievals typically complete within 5–12 hours.
To make an Expedited, Standard, or Bulk
retrieval, set the Tier request element in the POST Object restore REST API
request to the option you want, or the equivalent in the AWS CLI, or AWS SDKs. For
Expedited retrievals, there is no need to designate whether an expedited retrieval
is
On-Demand or Provisioned. If you have purchased provisioned capacity, all Expedited
retrievals are automatically served through your provisioned capacity.
You can restore an archived object programmatically or by using the Amazon S3 console. Amazon S3 processes only one restore request at a time per object. You can use both the console and the Amazon S3 API to check the restoration status and to find out when Amazon S3 will delete the restored copy.
Provisioned Capacity
Provisioned capacity guarantees that your retrieval capacity for expedited retrievals is available when you need it. Each unit of capacity ensures that at least three expedited retrievals can be performed every five minutes and provides up to 150 MB/s of retrieval throughput.
You should purchase provisioned retrieval capacity if your workload requires highly reliable and predictable access to a subset of your data in minutes. Without provisioned capacity Expedited retrievals are accepted, except for rare situations of unusually high demand. However, if you require access to Expedited retrievals under all circumstances, you must purchase provisioned retrieval capacity. You can purchase provisioned capacity using the Amazon S3 console, the Amazon Glacier console, the Purchase Provisioned Capacity REST API, the AWS SDKs, or the AWS CLI. For provisioned capacity pricing information, see the Amazon Glacier Pricing.
