Explore the challenges and insights of building and operating Amazon S3, one of the world's largest cloud storage systems, in this 53-minute conference talk from USENIX FAST '23. Join Andy Warfield, a former UBC faculty member turned Amazon engineer, as he reflects on his five-year journey with the S3 team. Discover how the concept of "scale" impacts not only the technical aspects of managing vast quantities of hard drives but also influences the cultural, organizational, and personal dimensions of evolving and running such a massive storage service. Gain valuable insights into the unexpected ways scale factors into the role of a cloud storage engineer and the operation of a cloud storage business. Learn about the unique challenges and solutions involved in building storage at the scale of S3, and understand the multifaceted nature of working on a cloud storage service of this magnitude.