Most modern businesses collect and process large amounts of data. All this information needs to be stored somewhere. Object cloud storage helps to cope with the ever-increasing volume of data. It is one of the most efficient solutions available today. In this article, we look at how object storage differs from other types of storage and what information it is best suited for.
What is S3 object storage?
Simply put, it is storage for unstructured data. Scalability is the reason why object storage is essentially a cloud service. Unlike the address hierarchy used in traditional file storage, object storage uses a flat file system - no directory tree. As a result, it offers limitless scalability - object storage is capable of storing vast amounts of unstructured data such as audio, video, email, medical records, and documents.
Data of different formats and volumes is stored as objects with metadata. Each object has a unique identifier that allows applications to find and access the data. This greatly simplifies the operation of the system.
The benefits of object storage are easier to understand when compared to other solutions - file and block storage.
File storage
Stores data in folders. The file system is based on a hierarchical structure: the root record, from which data about files and their attributes are derived. Everything is organised in a convenient directory structure. The file uploaded to the cloud is given a name and can be accessed by anyone who knows it.
There are two types of file storage: physical and virtual. In the first case, the data is stored on the hard disk, in the second - on a virtual one. Virtual storage has a much larger volume and you can also set up remote access to it. Examples of such storage are Dropbox, Google Drive, and other similar services.
Advantages:
- Simple structure.
- Easy to navigate and search for documents.
Disadvantages:
- Limited capacity, as it fills, access speed and performance decreases.
- Suitable for small amounts of diverse data.
Block storage
These solutions are used for processing arrays of information requiring complex calculations, hosting ERP systems and corporate databases, i.e. frequently overwritten data. In block storage, downloaded data is split into several chunks of equal size and then written to disk. A similar solution is often used for virtualisation. Each virtual server has its own storage, ensuring high performance. Block storage is convenient for both users and applications because it offers low latency and easy access rights setup.
Benefits:
- Each user environment is separate, allowing data to be sorted and accessed independently.
- Block storage offers better performance: thanks to the host bus adapter, which offloads the CPU and frees its resources for other tasks.
Disadvantages:
- More expensive and more complex to manage because dealing with blocks puts extra load on the database.
- Limited in size.
Why use S3 Object Storage?
Object storage provides high speed processing of large amounts of data and thousands of objects. With this type of storage, users are not directly involved; access to data is organised at the application level using APIs.
Typically, object storage is used to back up and archive critical data. The most common storage objects include static content (images, video, audio, JS and CSS files), system archives and backups, enterprise, mobile and web application data (images, software updates), electronic document management.
Users include design and development companies, game portals, news agencies, organisations that provide media content to a wide audience, marketplaces, social networks, educational institutions, and many others with large data sets.
Benefits:
- Scalability. Because object addresses are stored as references rather than names, the system is easily scalable. It is unlimited in size and can contain any amount of data.
- No hierarchy. This ensures that there are no bottlenecks that can occur with complex multi-tier catalogue systems.
- Data integrity is maintained through replication and updates, so there is no system downtime.
- Fault tolerance. Object storage is typically provided by cloud providers who use highly reliable Tier III data centers with fault-tolerant infrastructure to ensure uninterrupted data access.
Disadvantages:
- Applications targeting object storage often require customization because, as a rule, object APIs are usually as simple as possible and do not meet the standard requirements for managing data from storage.
- Object storage services are not suitable for supporting a traditional database because of the high latency of such services
- You cannot change a part of a block, you have to read and write the whole object at once.
- There may be compatibility issues between file system tools (e.g. utilities) and object storage systems. They require the organisation of several intermediate layers to work together.
- Object storage is not suitable for all types of data. The most suitable objects are media data and web content.
S3 Object storage allows any type of data to be stored in its original form, provides rapid scalability, and optimises resource consumption. It makes an organisation's infrastructure more resilient and efficient, providing reliable, long-term storage for unlimited amounts of data and files, accessible over the Internet from anywhere in the world.
