Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is an online service provided by Amazon.com, that allows web designers to store large amounts of data online.

S3 is free to join, and is a pay-as-you-go sevice, meaning you only ever pay for any of the hosting and bandwidth costs that you use, making it very attractive for start-up companies looking to minimize costs.

On top of this, the fully scalable, fast and reliable service provided by Amazon, makes it highly attractive to web designers all over the world.

Amazon offer S3 as a hosting system dependent on your geographic location, currently offering datacenters in the US and Europe. Prices of the service are dependent on your location, but are currently set as follows:

There is no limit to the amount of storage and bandwidth you can use on your Amazon S3 account, meaning it is a fully scalable to your needs.

Amazon has also built the S3 service to be very reliable, and guarantees server uptime of 99.99%. This claim is backed up by a service level agreement, whereby the user is entitled to a service credit if the service ever drops below this guarantee.

So Why Should You Use It?

1. One of the Most Affordable Hosting Solutions on the Web

The obvious answer to this question is cost! Since you only ever pay for the storage and bandwidth you use, you don't have to contend with high end server costs, or pay for storage and bandwidth that you will never use. You're bill is always in line with the volume of your use.

2. No Limits, Fully Scalable Solution

You should also consider the fact the Amazon S3 is fully scalable, and there are no limits to the amount of storage or bandwidth that you use. Conventional hosting companies apply limits to the majority of their plans, and once you hit them, you either get slapped with large, extra costs, or they simply suspend your account, putting your whole website out of action. Using Amazon S3 means you're no longer at the mercy of the hosting company.

3. Reliability, S3 is Provided by a World Giant in Amazon, with Masses of Technical Expertise

The S3 service is very reliable - there is currently a growing network of over 200,000 developers, it's being used by a multitude of companies of different sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 1000 companies - it's a widely tested system. This is backed up by a guarantee of 99.99% uptime from Amazon, and their service level agreement if the service ever falls below that.

4. Protect your Own Server

Finally, the use of Amazon S3 allows you to reduce strain on the server hosting your website. Files such as video and audio have much larger file sizes than standard html files, and an influx of traffic to view a particular file can put undue strain on your server, and in some cases even knock it out. Outsourcing the hosting of your larger files to Amazon S3, means you can optimize your own server for hosting the website, and let Amazon worry about everything else.