Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Amazon Glacier VS AWS CloudHSM

Compare Amazon Glacier VS AWS CloudHSM and see what are their differences

Amazon Glacier logo Amazon Glacier

Amazon Glacier is a secure, durable, and extremely low-cost storage service for data archiving and long-term backup.

AWS CloudHSM logo AWS CloudHSM

Data Security
  • Amazon Glacier Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-25
  • AWS CloudHSM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-02-02

Amazon Glacier features and specs

  • Cost-effective
    Amazon Glacier offers a low-cost storage option for data that is infrequently accessed, making it suitable for archival and backup solutions.
  • Durability
    Built on the AWS infrastructure, Amazon Glacier provides high durability by automatically storing data across multiple facilities.
  • Scalability
    Amazon Glacier is highly scalable, accommodating various workloads and growing storage needs without capacity constraints.
  • Data Security
    AWS provides several security features for Glacier, such as integration with AWS IAM, encryption in transit and at rest, and compliance with various regulations.
  • Integration with AWS services
    Amazon Glacier can be seamlessly integrated with other AWS services like S3, providing a cohesive and comprehensive data management solution.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon Glacier

  • Retrieval Times
    Data retrieval from Amazon Glacier can take a significant amount of time, ranging from minutes to hours, which might be unsuitable for time-sensitive needs.
  • Complex Pricing Structure
    While data storage costs are low, the pricing structure for data retrieval and early deletion can be complex and potentially lead to unexpected charges.
  • Limited Immediate Access
    Amazon Glacier is designed for archival purposes, meaning that data is not immediately accessible, making it inappropriate for data requiring frequent access.
  • Minimal Management Console Interface
    Compared to other AWS services, Amazon Glacier has a less intuitive management console, potentially complicating use for less experienced users.

AWS CloudHSM features and specs

  • Compliance Requirements
    AWS CloudHSM is compliant with various industry standards and regulations, such as FIPS 140-2 Level 3, enabling organizations to meet specific compliance requirements with ease.
  • Dedicated Hardware
    CloudHSM provides dedicated hardware Security Modules (HSMs) for enhanced security, offering physical and logical isolation from other users.
  • Customer Control
    Customers retain full control over the cryptographic keys and operations within the HSM, ensuring that AWS staff cannot access or manage these keys.
  • High Availability
    AWS CloudHSM can be configured for high availability, with automatic clustering and redundancy to ensure continuous operation and minimal downtime.
  • Scalability
    Users can add and remove HSMs on-demand, allowing for scalable performance and capacity that aligns with their needs.
  • Easy Integration
    CloudHSM integrates with various AWS services and third-party applications, allowing for seamless deployment of cryptographic operations.

Possible disadvantages of AWS CloudHSM

  • Cost
    CloudHSM can be more expensive compared to other AWS managed key services, as it involves the cost of dedicated hardware and additional management overhead.
  • Management Complexity
    The requirement for customer management of the HSMs introduces complexity, particularly for organizations without specialized staff or knowledge in cryptographic operations.
  • Hardware Dependencies
    Being dependent on physical hardware may limit the ability to quickly adapt to certain changes compared to entirely software-based solutions.
  • Region Availability
    AWS CloudHSM may not be available in all AWS regions, potentially limiting its usage for global applications that require region-specific deployments.
  • Initial Setup
    The initial setup and configuration process can be intricate and time-consuming, potentially requiring specialized expertise.

Amazon Glacier videos

Backing up to Amazon Glacier: What is it and How Does it Work? Synology and ARQ

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Top 5 Amazon Glacier Clients | Best Backup Tools for Amazon Glacier | How to Use Amazon Glacier

AWS CloudHSM videos

AWS re:Inforce 2019: Achieving Security Goals with AWS CloudHSM (SDD333)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Amazon Glacier and AWS CloudHSM)
Cloud Storage
61 61%
39% 39
Security & Privacy
0 0%
100% 100
Object Storage
100 100%
0% 0
Password Management
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Amazon Glacier should be more popular than AWS CloudHSM. It has been mentiond 28 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Amazon Glacier mentions (28)

  • Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
    Do you think that Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive is good for digital preservation of my ~300GB video stash? Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Looking for recommendations for a long term, secure, off-site data storage solution
    Easy - I know about S3 Glaciers but I'd prefer something that doesn't require going through a number of tutorials to use. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is it possible to have cloud ssd and hdd, instead of physic ones?
    The nice thing about AWS is that you could use Amazon S3 Glacier storage if you can live with slower retrieval (5-12 hours). It's really cheap and excellent for non-changing requirements which would be good for media that isn't updating regularly. https://aws.amazon.com/s3/storage-classes/glacier/. Source: about 2 years ago
  • How many backups of photos should I have? And where?
    I would recommend Amazon S3 Glacier https://aws.amazon.com/s3/storage-classes/glacier/ . You can explicitly upload files there via web interface or many 3rd party clients. You can also upload to more than one geographical location. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Best place to upload / store 35-50GB daily online?
    What you want, is Amazon Glacier. You're not talking about Backup here, you're talking about Archival. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

AWS CloudHSM mentions (5)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Amazon Glacier and AWS CloudHSM, you can also consider the following products

Amazon S3 - Amazon S3 is an object storage where users can store data from their business on a safe, cloud-based platform. Amazon S3 operates in 54 availability zones within 18 graphic regions and 1 local region.

Azure Key Vault - Safeguard cryptographic keys and other secrets used by cloud apps and services with Microsoft Azure Key Vault. Try it now.

Nutanix - Nutanix is a virtualized datacenter platform that provides disruptive datacenter infrastructure solutions for implementing enterprise-class.

Egnyte - Enterprise File Sharing

Microsoft Azure Storage - Azure Storage is a durable, scalable cloud storage solution.

GnuPG - GnuPG is a complete and free implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880 (also known as PGP).