What's New In the Cloud? AWS S3 Tables
Amazon just introduced S3 Tables, a brand-new way to store and manage tabular data like daily transactions, sensor streams, and ad impressions.
S3 now has a new type of bucket specifically for analytics: table buckets. Think of these as an analytics warehouse designed to store Iceberg tables, complete with the same reliability and scalability you know from S3.
Built on the Apache Iceberg format, it’s designed to make querying data easier, faster, and more efficient using tools like Amazon Athena, Amazon EMR, and Apache Spark.
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE:
Because when compared to self-managed table storage, you can expect:
Up to 3x faster query speeds
Up to 10x more transactions per second
The convenience of a fully managed service, so you can focus on your data not the infrastructure.
WHAT ARE THE KEY FEATURES:
Automatically optimizes storage for faster queries and lower costs.
Lets you group and manage tables logically with namespaces.
Fully integrated with AWS, so you can easily query data using your favorite tools.
HOW IT WORKS:
Table Buckets
Each bucket has a unique name and ARN tied to your AWS account.
They’re region-specific and include resource policies for fine-grained control.
Tables
These are structured datasets stored within table buckets.
AWS handles maintenance like compaction (combining small files), snapshot management (cleaning up old versions), and file cleanup automatically.
Namespaces
Logical groups for tables, making access management simpler.
WHERE SHOULD YOU START:
Want to get started? You can use AWS CLI. For example, Create a table bucket:
aws s3tables create-table-bucket --name my-awesome-bucket
Not a fan of the command line? No problem. You can manage everything through the S3 Console
WHAT ELSE AM I GETTING WITH S3 TABLES:
Compaction: Automatically combines small files into larger ones for better performance.
Snapshot Management: Cleans up outdated snapshots to save space.
File Cleanup: Deletes unused files, so you don’t have to worry about them.
AWS Integration: Connect with analytics tools like Amazon Athena and Amazon Redshift.
Security: All data is encrypted, with strict access controls by default.
Pricing: You’ll pay for storage, requests, and maintenance tasks like compaction.
Availability: Available now in US East (Ohio, N. Virginia) and US West (Oregon) regions.
This S3 Tables thing is really storage reimagined for the modern data-driven world.
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