Amazon S3 | Storage Lens & Default Dashboard.

 

Amazon S3 | Storage Lens Overview.

Amazon S3 Storage Lens is a cloud storage analytics tool built into S3 that gives twtech organization-wide visibility into storage usage and activity trends.

It's designed to help twtech optimize costs, improve performance, and enhance data protection strategies.

The concept:  S3 Storage Lens

S3 Storage Lens provides metrics and insights across all twtech buckets and accounts (in an AWS Organization), helping twtech analyze and act on:

Category	Insights Provided
Usage	Object count, storage size by class, versions, etc.
Activity	Requests, bytes uploaded/downloaded, etc.
Cost Optimization	Unused storage, non-current versions, infrequent access candidates.
Data Protection	Encryption usage, replication status, etc.

 Key Features

Feature	Description
Organization-wide metrics	Aggregated insights across all accounts and buckets.
Pre-configured dashboard	AWS Console provides an easy-to-use, visual dashboard.
Metrics export	Export data to S3 in CSV or Parquet format for custom analysis.
Free & Advanced tiers	Free tier includes ~30 metrics; Advanced tier includes 35+ more, including activity metrics.
Daily metrics	Data updated daily (no real-time metrics).

 Metrics Categories (Examples)

Category	Free Tier	Advanced Tier (Paid)
Storage	Total bytes, object counts	Per storage class, per prefix
Activity	❌ (not available)	PUT, GET, DELETE counts, 4xx/5xx
Cost Optimization	Limited	Stale noncurrent versions, deletable bytes
Data Protection	Default encryption usage	Replication and MFA delete status

 Use Cases

1. Cost Optimization
• Identify buckets storing infrequently accessed or incomplete multipart uploads.
2. Lifecycle Policy Tuning
• Find buckets with too many old noncurrent versions.
3. Security Posture Review
• Spot buckets not using default encryption or without replication enabled.
4. Operational Analysis
• Discover high-activity buckets and optimize for performance/load.

 How twtech Enables Storage Lens | Via AWS Console:

1. Go to S3 → Storage Lens.
2. Click Create dashboard.
3. Choose scope (account or organization).
4. Select metrics tier (free or advanced).
5. Optionally enable metrics export to an S3 bucket.
6. Review and create.

 Metrics Export Example (S3)

Exported to S3 in CSV or Parquet format with data such as:

# csv

account_id,bucket,region,storage_class,total_bytes,object_count,...

1234567xxxx,twtech-s3bucket,us-east-2,STANDARD,104857600,500,...

twtech can analyze this data using Amazon Athena, Redshift, or QuickSight.

Storage Lens – Default Dashboard 

The default dashboard in Amazon S3 Storage Lens provides preconfigured visibility into your S3 storage usage and activity trends across all regions, buckets, and accounts (if using AWS Organizations).

It is automatically created when twtech enable Storage Lens.

 Dashboard Overview

Element	Description
Scope	Choose between AWS account or organization-wide view.
Time Range	Filter metrics by last 1, 7, 30, or 90 days.
Filters	Drill down by region, bucket, storage class, prefix, or account.
Widgets	Visual cards for storage, object count, encryption, versioning, request activity, and more.

 Key Metrics in the Default Dashboard

Section	Metrics Shown
🔸 Storage Summary	- Total storage by class - Number of objects - Average object size
🔸 Cost Optimization	- Noncurrent version bytes - Incomplete multipart uploads - Lifecycle policy coverage
🔸 Data Protection	- Encryption usage - Replication status - MFA delete coverage
🔸 Activity Metrics	(Advanced tier only) - PUT/GET/DELETE requests - 4xx/5xx errors - Bytes uploaded/downloaded
🔸 Top-N Reports	- Top buckets by size, object count, versioned bytes, etc.

 Example Widgets (Visual Cards)

1. Total Storage by Storage Class
• Bar chart showing STANDARD, INTELLIGENT_TIERING, GLACIER, etc.
2. Object Count Over Time
• Line graph of object growth trends.
3. Unencrypted Storage
• Pie chart showing % of objects without default encryption.
4. Buckets With No Lifecycle Rules
• Highlighted risk area for cost optimization.

 Metrics Export (Optional)

You can configure the dashboard to export metrics to an S3 bucket in CSV or Parquet format for deeper analysis using:

• Amazon Athena
• Amazon QuickSight
• Amazon Redshift

 How twtech may Access the Default Dashboard

1. Open the Amazon S3 console.
2. In the left menu, click Storage Lens.
3. Select the dashboard.
4. View metrics by date range, scope, filters, or download/export options.

 twtech-Best Practices 

• Use the “Top N Buckets” views to detect hot spots or unused data.
• Monitor for high 4xx/5xx error rates to fix performance issues (advanced tier).
• Identify buckets with no encryption, replication, or lifecycle for policy improvement.
• Regularly compare trends (30 vs. 90 days) to forecast growth or unusual spikes.

• Use Athena or QuickSight for deeper analytics on exported data.
• Set up alerts in CloudWatch based on thresholds (e.g., growth spikes).
• Enable advanced metrics if twtech needs detailed request-level insights.
• Combine with S3 Lifecycle policies for automation based on insights.

Addendum:

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/s3-storage-lens/