Storage in the Cloud — Block, Object, and File Storage
Hi there. I am Philip Santus, a Web Programmer, developer, and writer. Today, I’m learning CLOUD COMPUTING. I’m a novice in this field but there is nothing I put my mind to that I can’t know.
Join me on this journey and let’s learn together.
Today, I’ll be sharing with you what I learned which is the types of cloud storage alongside their meaning, individual advantages, and disadvantages they offer.
So let’s get started. When considering storing data in the cloud, you have three main cloud types available to choose from. They are:
1). Block Storage:–
It is a technology primarily used for storing data files in cloud-based storage environments or on storage area networks, also called SANs in the cloud, it is typically implemented through the attachment of a virtual disk to a cloud-based virtual machine to state the least block.
Storage uses the process of breaking data into individual blocks, which can then be stored as individual pieces. Each data block is given a unique identifier, which further allows the storage system to place the smaller piece of data in the most efficient location.
Here, the approach itself involves storing blocks across different systems, with each block configured or partitioned to work with a different operating system.
This means that blocks of the same original data can be stored in both a Linux environment and a Windows unit as well. Further by decoupling data from your user environment.
Block Storage allows the data to be spread across multiple environments.
In creating such multiple paths to the data, the process of retrieving data is accelerated. So here, if you or an application request data from a block storage system, the data is retrieved and reassembled by the underlying storage system before being presented back to you.
Also block storage is a popular choice in modern data centers due to the advantages it offers, like:
i). High performance,
ii). Scalability,
iii). Ease of file modification and,
iv). Operating system bootability.
But similarly, it does have its drawbacks as well, which include issues related to:
i). Server binding,
ii). Metadata limitations,
iii). And higher cost.
USE CASES OF BLOCK STORAGE:
Some of the major use cases for Block Storage include building transactional databases, email servers, and virtual machine file systems or VMFS volumes. IMAGE DESCRIPTION BELOW:
Next on the list, is number two:
2). Object storage, also known as object-based storage:-
This is a process that involves splitting data files into individual chunks known as objects.
These objects are further stored in a single self-contained repository and can be distributed across multiple cloud-based servers and network systems.
Here, each object is given a unique identifier which can be used by applications to identify and retrieve objects when stored across a distributed system.
Also, metadata is attached to each object which contains important information. This further can be extremely detailed and can include information like object size, date, last modified media type, and access rights.
Also, the flat structure of object storage makes it efficient to store large quantities of data, and it is also possible to store any kind of data with it, be it photos, videos, or log files as objects.
ADVANTAGES OF OBJECT STORAGE:
Further, a few of the major advantages of object storage include:
i). Reduced complexity,
ii). Ease of searchability,
iii). Resiliency,
iv). And cost efficiency.
DISADVANTAGES OF OBJECT STORAGE:
Similarly, object storage disadvantages include:
i). No locking mechanism,
ii). And the inability to use object storage services to back a traditional database.
iii). Operating systems can’t easily mount an object storage like a normal disk.
iv). In addition, object storage tends to be the least well-performing of all storage modes because of the heavier metadata overheads.
USE CASES OF OBJECT STORAGE:
Some of the major use cases of object storage include:
i). Building IoT,
ii). Data management systems,
iii). Disaster recovery,
iv). Storage,
v). Data analytics,
vi). And video surveillance.
Next is the number three which is:
3). File storage:
So file storage in the cloud is a hierarchical approach to storing data, and is also known as file-level or file-based storage.
This process involves storing data in files, and then these files are arranged in folders, which can then be organized into directories and sub-directories for users and applications to locate and retrieve a file, they will need to know the pathway from the directory to the folder and the specific file.
This information is included in a set amount of metadata that is attached to the file, to state further file storage has a range of capabilities and can store all.
Post any type of data. And just like with any computer, you can store a range of complex files, and it’s fairly quick for you to navigate as well.
It is also very easy to configure, wherein you can control access to files with user rights, file locking, and other controls, if seen from a technical approach, hierarchical file storage performs well to a point, but do note that once your file storage gets to a certain size, you will begin to experience performance issues with a slowdown in file retrieval.
This is caused by the constraints of only having a single pathway to each file, which only continues to increase as more folders, directories, and sub-directories are added to the system.
But don’t worry, by the way, here the nature of the cloud system will allow you to mitigate these performance issues to a certain extent, scaling two with five-story systems includes adding higher capacity virtual machines with additional compute power, though, you may find it less efficient and more expensive than if you were to instead opt for an object or block storage approach for your system.
USE CASES FOR FILE STORAGE:
Some of the major use cases for file storage include:
i). Building financial modeling systems,
ii). Machine learning application migrations
iii). And running web content management infrastructure.
Lastly, if you’re wondering which cloud storage type you should use, well, let me tell you that the type of storage selected affects the cost of the storage and how easily you can access the data in the future, organizations must account for factors like cost, scalability, retrievability, security, data volumes and ease of management when choosing any of the cloud storage types for their use case.
Further, as new data types and use cases arise, organizations must constantly evaluate and optimize their storage types for each subset of data, and accordingly, storage strategies and decisions should continually evolve as business needs and technology change with that.
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