AWS Technical Essentials Practice Exam 2025 – Complete Preparation Guide

Amazon Glacier is specifically designed for long-term archival storage of data that is not frequently accessed. This archiving purpose inherently leads to longer retrieval times compared to other AWS storage options, such as Amazon S3, which is optimized for immediate access and frequent use.

When data is stored in Amazon Glacier, it is typically moved to a lower-cost storage solution where the focus is not on speed but on cost efficiency for data that is expected to be retrieved infrequently. The retrieval process involves an additional step, as the data must be restored from its archival state before it can be accessed. This is in direct contrast to other storage types that prioritize quick access and low-latency responses.

The other options—namely low memory, storage of large amounts of data, or selective data storage—do not directly address the key functionality and design of Glacier, which is fundamentally about long-term retention of archived data that does not require immediate availability. That’s why retrieval time is inherently longer for stored data in Amazon Glacier.