A platform must store millions of user-uploaded images and expose each one through a URL so they can be fetched from anywhere. The storage should be highly durable and publicly retrievable over the internet. Which service fits best?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
S3 is object storage built to hold effectively unlimited amounts of data with eleven nines of durability, and every object carries a unique URL that can be shared or served publicly. That combination — internet-facing URLs plus massive durability — is exactly the shape of this requirement.
The alternatives are all block, file, or hybrid storage services that attach to compute; they have no concept of a public object URL.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. EBS is a block volume attached to a single EC2 instance, with no public URL access mechanism.
- C. EFS is an NFS file system for EC2 instances and is not designed for serving objects over the internet.
- D. Storage Gateway connects on-premises systems to AWS storage; it does not itself host publicly accessible files.
Exam tip. S3 = object storage with URL access; EBS = one instance's disk; EFS = shared NFS file system.