Question

A cloud architect is designing storage for a media company's IaaS platform. Recently uploaded videos are streamed heavily for the first 30 days, after which access drops to near zero but the files must be retained for seven years for licensing compliance. The finance team is pressuring the architect to reduce object storage spend without breaking the compliance requirement or slowing down active content. Which approach best balances cost and access requirements?

Accepted Answer

Configure a lifecycle policy that keeps objects in a hot/standard tier for the first 30 days, then automatically transitions them to a cold/archive tier for the remainder of the retention period

Answer

Store all objects permanently in the hot/standard tier to guarantee that any file can be streamed instantly if licensing auditors request it

Answer

Immediately place all uploaded objects in a cold/archive tier to achieve the lowest possible per-gigabyte storage price

Answer

Delete objects after 30 days once streaming demand ends and re-request them from the content owners if an audit occurs