Implementing Large-Scale Data Replication in Amazon S3
This post discusses two approaches for large-scale data replication for Amazon S3
Balu Mathew
Amazon Employee
Published Apr 22, 2025
Ensuring data resilience and availability across multiple regions is one of the critical outcome for businesses. This post explores two primary approaches for replicating large volume of Data across two regions in S3. For demonstration purposes and ease of calculation, we focus on 200Tb of Data to be transferred from us-east-1 to us-west-2.
S3 Batch Replication is specifically designed for large-scale, on-demand replication of existing objects across Amazon S3 buckets.
Performance Metrics
- Throughput: Approximately 1,200 objects per second
- Network Impact: Minimal, as replication uses AWS's internal network backbone
- Cost Estimate: Approximately $4,000/month for 200TB (excluding destination storage costs)
Key Implementation Considerations
- Enable replication configuration on your source document. Temporarily disable lifecycle rules during active replication
- Create a manifest file for object selection
- Implement filters based on creation date and replication status
- Monitor progress through completion reports
AWS DataSync offers a fully managed service for large-scale data transfers between AWS services.
Performance Metrics
- Transfer Speed: 10-20TB/day per task (can be parallelized)
- Network Impact: Minimal, utilizing AWS private network
- Cost Estimate: Approximately $6,600/month for 200TB (excluding destination storage costs)
Key Features
- Agentless operation for S3-to-S3 transfers
- Automated handling of encryption, validation, and retries
- Native CloudWatch monitoring integration
- Fully managed service requiring minimal maintenance
For a 200TB replication scenario:
- S3 Batch Replication: $4,000/month
- AWS DataSync: $6,600/month
- *Note: Remember to factor in additional costs such as destination storage and potential data transfer fees in your final calculation.*
Implementation Best Practices
- Thoroughly assess object count and sizes
- Plan for adequate transfer windows
- Monitor replication progress
- Maintain source-destination parity
- Regular validation of replicated data
While both solutions offer robust replication capabilities, S3 Batch Replication emerges as the more cost-effective option for large-scale data replication needs. The choice between the two should consider factors like operational overhead, transfer speed requirements, and budget constraints.
For detailed implementation guides, refer to AWS documentation:
- S3 Batch Replication: [AWS S3 Documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/s3-batch-replication-batch.html)
- AWS DataSync: [AWS DataSync Documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/datasync/latest/userguide/tutorial_s3-s3-cross-account-transfer.html)
Any opinions in this post are those of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of AWS.