Reducing S3 Costs from Incomplete Multipart Uploads

SAA-C03 By islever Editorial Last updated

Design cost-optimized storage solutions.

Short answer

B Enable an S3 Lifecycle policy that deletes incomplete multipart uploads to stop paying for unused storage parts.

Question

A company maintains about 300 TB in Amazon S3 Standard storage month after month. The S3 objects are each typically around 50 GB in size and are frequently replaced with multipart uploads by their global application. The number and size of S3 objects remain constant, but the company's S3 storage costs are increasing each month. How should a solutions architect reduce costs in this situation?
  1. Switch from multipart uploads to Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration.
  2. Enable an S3 Lifecycle policy that deletes incomplete multipart uploads. Correct Answer
  3. Configure S3 inventory to prevent objects from being archived too quickly.
  4. Configure Amazon CloudFront to reduce the number of objects stored in Amazon S3.

Key Takeaways

The question tests knowledge of S3 Lifecycle rules, specifically that incomplete multipart uploads incur storage charges and can be automatically deleted to save money.

Learn how to reduce Amazon S3 storage costs caused by accumulating incomplete multipart uploads using Lifecycle policies. This page explains why deleting incomplete uploads is the correct cost optimization strategy for this scenario.

Common mistake: Learners often overlook incomplete uploads as a cost factor or incorrectly choose Transfer Acceleration, which increases data transfer costs rather than reducing storage fees.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

Incomplete multipart uploads consume storage space in Amazon S3 because each part is stored individually until the upload is completed or aborted. Since these parts remain in storage, they incur standard S3 storage charges just like any other object. By configuring an S3 Lifecycle policy to delete incomplete multipart uploads after a specified period (e.g., 1 day), the architect ensures that abandoned or failed uploads do not accumulate indefinitely, thereby directly reducing monthly storage costs.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Option A is incorrect because Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration uses CloudFront edge locations to speed up uploads but incurs additional data transfer costs, which would increase the overall bill rather than decrease it. Option C is incorrect because S3 Inventory is a reporting tool used to track object metadata; it does not modify objects or change storage classes to reduce costs. Option D is incorrect because CloudFront is a caching service that reduces latency and bandwidth costs but does not remove objects from S3; the objects still exist and are billed for storage regardless of cache hits.

Community Comment Notes

Community consensus strongly supports Option B, with users noting that optimizing multipart uploads is essential for cost control. Comments highlight that incomplete uploads represent wasted storage space that should be cleaned up regularly. One user noted that "Optimize multipart uploads to reduce costs associated with storing incomplete multipart upload parts," emphasizing the direct link between cleanup and savings. Another user correctly pointed out that Transfer Acceleration is more expensive for data transfer, making it unsuitable for a cost-reduction goal.

Official Reference

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/mpu-abort-incomplete-mpu-lifecycle-config.html

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

Always look for 'cost reduction' keywords paired with 'storage' metrics. If the scenario mentions frequent updates or uploads, check if incomplete artifacts (like multipart parts) are being ignored as a hidden cost driver. Lifecycle policies are the primary tool for automating cleanup and tiering.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do incomplete multipart uploads cost money?

Each part of an incomplete multipart upload is stored as a separate object in S3, incurring standard storage charges until the upload is completed or aborted.

Can I use S3 Glacier for incomplete uploads?

No, Lifecycle policies for incomplete multipart uploads only support deletion or aborting, not transition to different storage classes like Glacier.

More SAA-C03 FAQ →

Community Votes

B
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer B. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 5 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 5

  1. alawada 👍 4 Answered B
    Optimize multipart uploads to reduce costs associated with storing incomplete multipart upload parts. Ensure that multipart uploads are completed and the parts are assembled into complete objects in a timely manner to avoid unnecessary storage costs.
  2. Typewriter101 👍 4 Answered B
    when primary concern is cost and the data transfer multipart upload may be the more cost-effective than S3 transfer acceleration. So switching to s3 TA is won't be reasonable.
  3. Andy_09 👍 3
    Option B
  4. Umuntu 👍 2
    Option B is correct
  5. MatAlves 👍 1 Answered B
    B - No brainer.

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