Save Cloud Costs by Archiving Old Files in OCI Object Storage

Save Cloud Costs by Archiving Old Files in OCI Object Storage

If you're storing backups, logs, or rarely accessed data in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), you're likely using Object Storage - Standard Tier by default. But did you know you can automatically move old files to the cheaper Archive tier?

OCI’s Lifecycle Policies let you define rules that move or delete files based on age — no manual work, no scripts.

🛠️ How to Archive Old Files Automatically

Here’s how to set up a simple rule:

1. Login to the OCI Console

2. Go to Object Storage → Your Bucket → Lifecycle Policies

3. Click "Create Policy"

4. Set:

   • Action: Archive

   • Condition: If object is older than 30 days

   • (Optional) Add a prefix if you only want to target certain folders

Once this is active, OCI will automatically move files older than 30 days to the Archive tier.

📉 Why Archive Tier?

Tier	Access Time	Cost	Use Case
Standard	Immediate	Higher	Recent backups, hot data
Archive	Up to 4 hrs	Very low	Old backups, logs, cold data

💡 Example Use Case

You have a bucket storing database dumps daily. With lifecycle rules, you can keep only the recent 30 days in Standard tier and archive the rest — saving storage costs without losing data.

✅ Final Tip

Pair this with another rule to delete archived files after 180 days, and you’ve built a full storage lifecycle — all automated.