How does cloud storage lifecycle management (ILM) work?

Cloud storage lifecycle management (ILM) is a policy-driven approach to automatically manage data throughout its lifecycle, from creation to deletion. It helps optimize storage costs, improve performance, and ensure compliance by moving data between different storage tiers or deleting it when no longer needed.

How It Works:

1. Policy Definition: Administrators set rules based on factors like data age, access frequency, or file type. For example, "Move files older than 90 days to cold storage."
2. Automated Execution: The system continuously monitors data and applies policies automatically, reducing manual intervention.
3. Storage Tiering: Data is moved between tiers (e.g., hot, cool, archive) based on usage patterns. Frequently accessed data stays in high-performance storage, while infrequently used data is shifted to cheaper tiers.
4. Deletion or Archiving: Policies can delete obsolete data or archive it for long-term retention.

Example:

A company stores user upload logs in cloud storage. With ILM, logs older than 30 days are moved to a lower-cost archive tier, and logs older than 1 year are automatically deleted to save space.

In the cloud industry, Tencent Cloud offers Lifecycle Management for its Object Storage Service (COS), allowing users to define rules for automatic data transition between standard, infrequent access, and archive storage tiers, as well as scheduled deletion.