EFS Lifecycle Management automatically moves files between storage classes based on access patterns. Using configurable lifecycle policies, files not accessed for a defined period are transitioned from the Standard (or One Zone) class to the lower-cost Infrequent Access (IA) class, and can be transitioned back when accessed again.
EFS Lifecycle Management works similarly to S3 Intelligent-Tiering. You define policies that specify when a file should be transitioned to a cheaper storage class and when it should be moved back. AWS EFS monitors the last-accessed timestamp of every file and automatically moves files according to your policy. This can reduce storage costs by up to 92% for files that are rarely accessed, without requiring any changes to your application.
Controls when files are moved FROM Standard (or One Zone) TO the Infrequent Access (IA) class
Available thresholds: After 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days since last access
Example: 'Transition to IA after 30 days' — any file not accessed in 30 days is automatically moved to Standard-IA
The transition happens in the background with no downtime or application change required
Files smaller than 128 KB are NOT transitioned — the overhead of moving tiny files outweighs the savings
Metadata (file name, permissions, timestamps) remains in the Standard class regardless of where the data is stored
Controls when files are moved FROM Infrequent Access BACK TO the Standard (or One Zone) class
Available options: On first access (immediately move back when a file is read)
This is optional — if you do not configure it, files stay in IA even after being accessed
Recommended for workloads where accessing a file signals that it will be accessed frequently again
Not recommended for analytics workloads that do one-time full-scan reads — files would all move back to Standard, increasing costs
EFS Standard costs approximately $0.30 per GB-month
EFS Standard-IA costs approximately $0.025 per GB-month — 92% cheaper
EFS One Zone costs approximately $0.16 per GB-month
EFS One Zone-IA costs approximately $0.0133 per GB-month — 95% cheaper than Standard
A typical file system where 80% of files are infrequently accessed can see 60–70% overall cost reduction with lifecycle policies enabled
There is a per-GB retrieval fee when accessing IA files — optimize by only moving back files that will be accessed repeatedly
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