Object Storage
Master scalable, durable cloud storage systems like Amazon S3 and their architectural patterns
Object Storage Cost Calculator
Cost Breakdown
Storage Efficiency
Performance & Reliability
Scale Limits
Object Storage Fundamentals
Object storage is a data storage architecture that manages data as objects, providing virtually unlimited scalability, high durability, and cost-effective storage for cloud applications and data archiving.
Scalability
Store exabytes of data with billions of objects using flat namespace architecture.
Durability
99.999999999% (11 nines) durability through redundant storage across multiple locations.
Cost-Effective
Pay only for what you use with multiple storage classes optimized for different access patterns.
Object Storage Architecture
Core Components
Objects
The fundamental units of storage, containing data, metadata, and a unique identifier.
Buckets/Containers
Logical containers that group objects and define access policies and configurations.
Storage Classes
Standard Storage
For frequently accessed data with millisecond access times and high throughput.
Infrequent Access
For data accessed less frequently but requiring rapid access when needed.
Glacier/Archive
For long-term archival with retrieval times from minutes to hours.
Deep Archive
Lowest cost for rarely accessed data with 12+ hour retrieval times.
REST API Interface
Advanced Data Management
Lifecycle Management
Automatically transition objects between storage classes or delete them based on age or access patterns.
Versioning & Replication
Object Versioning
Keep multiple versions of objects to protect against accidental deletion or modification.
Cross-Region Replication
Automatically replicate objects across geographic regions for disaster recovery.
Multipart Upload
Break large objects into smaller parts for parallel upload, improved performance, and resumable uploads.
- Parallel uploads for speed
- Resume failed uploads
- Handle network interruptions
- Upload objects > 5GB
Security & Access Control
Identity & Access Management
Bucket Policies
JSON-based policies that define permissions for bucket and object operations.
Access Control Lists
Fine-grained permissions at the object level for specific users or groups.
Pre-signed URLs
Time-limited URLs for temporary access without exposing credentials.
Encryption
Server-Side Encryption
Client-Side Encryption
Access Logging & Monitoring
Real-World Object Storage Services
Amazon S3
Google Cloud Storage
Azure Blob Storage
MinIO
Ceph Object Storage
Backblaze B2
Use Cases & Best Practices
🎯 Content Distribution
- • Static website hosting
- • Media and video streaming
- • Software distribution
- • CDN origin storage
📊 Data Analytics
- • Data lake storage
- • Big data processing input
- • Machine learning datasets
- • ETL pipeline storage
🛡️ Backup & Archive
- • Database backups
- • Long-term data retention
- • Compliance archiving
- • Disaster recovery
⚡ Performance Optimization
- • Use appropriate storage classes
- • Implement request rate optimization
- • Leverage multipart uploads
- • Design efficient key naming
💰 Cost Management
- • Implement lifecycle policies
- • Monitor and analyze access patterns
- • Use compression when possible
- • Optimize data transfer costs
🔒 Security Best Practices
- • Enable encryption at rest
- • Use IAM roles and policies
- • Implement access logging
- • Regular security audits