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A guide to using Amazon S3 for enterprise image hosting

by Casey Schmidt  |  January 9, 2020

3 min. read
The AWS symbol painted on a subway wall.

Amazon S3 provides companies with an efficient way to store images. Do you know how to use it? Do you understand what types of benefits it provides? If not, this article is for you. Here’s a breakdown of the steps needed to set it up and what it can do for your business.

How to use Amazon S3 for image hosting

In order to begin storing your images on Amazon S3, you need to first create an account with AWS. Finish the verification process as well before you go any further. Once you’ve completed these two steps, navigate to the S3 portion of AWS. To do this, click the ‘services’ dropdown menu and then click ‘S3’. Next, click the ‘Create Bucket’ button in the top left and name it (I recommend you name it something that is recognizable for your company).

Now it’s time to upload your images onto S3. Locate the bucket you’ve created (it will be named what you entered in the above step) and click on it. Select the ‘Upload’ button in the upper left of the screen and either click ‘add files’ and select your photos, or simply drag the desired photos to the drag and drop area.

A group of images connected.
Image hosting is extremely efficient on the cloud.

Why use Amazon S3?

Amazon S3 offers scalable storage that lets businesses store and manage endless amounts of items in the cloud. It not only offers huge storage allowance but it does so with extremely fast speeds, allowing users to quickly retrieve and share their stored images. It’s widely known that AWS is extremely secure, ensuring that each image stored is under extremely safe protocols and security checks.

Another good reason to use Amazon S3 is the cost convenience. In comparison to similar systems, the price is generally favorable. More importantly, however, is the way it caters to the cost needs of companies. It does this by only making customers pay for what they use, a practical solution for businesses worried about overpaying for cloud storage space they might not utilize.

An Amazon building with their logo on the side.
Amazon S3 provides plenty of storage space.

Who needs S3 and some alternatives

Businesses, especially larger enterprises, could really benefit from Amazon S3 image hosting. This is particularly true for companies who deal with large amounts of photographs, graphics and other image types. Companies that work with a lot of photographers are a good example of a company that requires cloud storage like amazon S3. Furthermore, companies who share a lot of images would benefit from amazon S3’s fast speeds, as they would allow businesses to quickly retrieve and share files.

What about an alternative to Amazon S3 for image hosting? If you’re looking for a cloud solution that has enterprise-features that offers some different benefits, consider digital asset management (DAM). The reason it’s such a good alternative to Amazon S3 is it has similar enterprise features, such as scalability and fast speeds for sharing. The way it differentiates is by giving companies extensive metadata features and team collaboration tools. Check out DAM if you want a different type of image hosting.

With the rise of things like company websites, there are more and more images needed, such as logos and photos for webpages. Because of this, companies need image hosting that is specific to their needs as an enterprise. Keep Amazon S3 in mind if you have a growing need for photos in your daily work.