What Is Object Storage? It's Crucial for Managing Cloud Data

Think of watching a movie or TV series on a streaming platform.

When using streaming platforms, global users stream or locally store large multi-gigabyte (GB) media files simultaneously.

Object streaming is what happens in the background when doing so. Each TV series or movie is stored either as a splitted object or a mounted range of objects. And the way they are stored is a classic example of object storage.

Object storage software is best suited for organizations that want to collect, store, and analyze a large amount of data. Object storage solutions are crucial for enabling bandwidth-hungry analytics. They can help businesses fix a fragmented storage portfolio, retrieve data faster, and optimize resources.

Object storage wasn’t always the go-to option for handling massive amounts of data. In the early days, it was more suitable for managing data lakes, backup, and data archives. Then came the era of explosive data growth. A traditional relational database was incapable of handling the unprecedented amount of data generated.

This forced businesses to rethink block- or file-based storage, be data resilient, and go beyond storage capacity. Developed in the late 1990s by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California–Berkeley, object storage software today can store and manage terabytes (TBs) or petabytes (PBs) of data in a single namespace with the trifecta of scale, speed, and cost-effectiveness. What further compelled them to rethink on-premises IT infrastructure is the rise of cloud-native applications.

Object storage vs. block storage vs. file storage

The amount of data you work with continues to grow every day, making data management even more overwhelming. With three types of storage architecture: object storage, block storage, and file storage to choose from, it’s crucial to have a solid understanding of the pros and cons of each because the storage technology you choose significantly influences business decisions.

Object storage

Businesses looking to archive and back up unstructured data produced by Internet of things (IoT) devices often find object-based storage to be the best solution. These unstructured data include web content, media, and sensor data.

An object storage system relies on a structurally flat data environment instead of complex hierarchies like folders or directories to store data as objects. Think of these objects as self-contained repositories or buckets. Each of them stores data with unique identifiers (UID) and customizable metadata. Organizations can mirror and run erasure code for these buckets across data centers and storage appliances.

Because of its scalability and reliability, object storage is widely used for cloud-based storage applications. Plus, the flat addressing scheme makes it easy to look up and access individual objects.

S3, which was originally Amazon S3, is the most common access protocol that object stores use. It uses connectionless commands like LIST, GET, PUT, and DELETE to access objects. Today, applications can natively use the S3 protocol for accessing files, meaning a file system is no longer needed.

Block storage

Block storage, or block-level storage, is the oldest and simplest form of data storage. It stores data in fixed-size chunks or blocks. Each of these blocks has an address and stores separate data units on storage area networks (SANs).

Instead of customizable metadata, a block storage system uses addresses to identify files and an internet small computer system interface (iSCSI) to transport them from required blocks. This granular control leads to faster performance when both application and storage are local. There will also be more latency when they are further apart.

Block storage platforms allow multiple data path creation and easy retrieval by decoupling data from user environments and spreading it across multiple environments. This makes block storage the go-to choice for application developers looking for fast, reliable, and efficient data transfer solutions for high-performance computing situations.

For example, an enterprise-wide virtual machine deployment can leverage block storage to store the virtual machine file system (VMFS). Using block-based storage volume to store the VMFS makes it easier for users to share files using the native operating system (OS).

File storage

File storage, also known as file-level storage or file-based storage, is a hierarchical methodology for storing or organizing data on a network attached storage (NAS) device. It functions much like a traditional network file system, meaning it’s easy to configure but comes with only a single path to the data.

For example, network attached storage (NAS) devices utilize file storage systems to share data over local area networks (LAN) or wide area networks (WAN). Since file storage uses common file-level protocols, dissimilar systems usually limit usability.

Powered by a global file system, file storage uses directories and sub-directories to store data. The file system is responsible for managing different file attributes such as directory location, access date, file type, file size, details of creation, and modification.

The perfect use case for file storage is the management of structured data.

A growing volume of data will be challenging for it to handle because of increasing resource demands and structural issues. Some of these problems can be solved with high-capacity devices with abundant storage space or cloud-based file storage.

The distributed and scale-out architecture of object storage is possible because of parallel data access and distributed metadata. Before diving deep into the architecture, it’s important to know about the different components of object storage.

What are the components of object storage?

The reason for object storage being so appealing lies in its flat system hierarchy which promotes accessibility, searchability, security, and scalability. This flat environment is built of multiple components which make it easier for you to store large volumes of data across distributed networks. These components are:

Object

An object is the fundamental unit of an object-based storage system. It contains data with attributes such as relevant metadata and unique identifiers.

There are three types of objects:

• Root object: Identifies storage device and its attributes
• Group object: Offers directory to the logical subset of objects on an object storage device
• User object: Moves application data for storage purposes and stores attributes related to user and storage

Object-based storage device (OSD)

An object-based storage device is responsible for managing the local object store, and serving, and storing data from the network. It is the foundation of the object storage architecture and consists of a disk, random-access memory (RAM), a processor, and a network interface.

Four major functions of an object-based storage device are:

• Data storage: Stores and retrieve data reliably via object IDs
• Intelligent layout: Optimizes data layout and pre-fetching using processor
• Metadata management: Manages metadata for objects stored
• Security: Inspects incoming transmissions for security

Object-based storage devices function in a way similar to storage area networks (SAN) in traditional storage systems but can be directly addressed in parallel without the intervention of a redundant array of independent disks (RAID).

Distributed file system

A distributed file system leverages an installable file system for enabling computer nodes to read and write objects to the object storage device. Its key functions are:

• Portable operating system interface (POSIX): Facilitates standard system operations such as Open, Read, Write, and Close for the underlying storage system
• Caching: Provides caching for the incoming data in the compute node
• Striping: Manages striping of objects across multiple object storage devices
• Mounting: Uses access control to mount file systems at the root
• Internet small computer system interface (iSCSI) driver: Implements iSCSI driver to facilitate object extensions and data payload

Metadata server

A metadata server (MDS) acts as a central repository and facilitates metadata storage, management, and delivery using common warehouse metamodel (CWM) and open metadata architecture.

It coordinates with authorized nodes to ensure proper interaction between nodes and objects. It also maintains cache consistency for the same files. Removal of metadata servers results in high throughput and linear scalability in storage area network (SAN) environments.

Key functions of the metadata server are:

• Authentication: Identifies and authenticates object-based storage devices waiting to join the storage system

• Access management: Manages file and directory access for operation requests from nodes

• Cache coherency: Updates local caches before allowing multiple nodes to use the same file

• Capacity management: Ensures optimum use of available disk resources 

• Scaling: Manages file- and directory-level metadata management for scalability

Network fabric

Network fabric is responsible for connecting the entire network i.e. object-based storage devices, compute nodes, and metadata servers in a single fabric. Other key components of the network are:

• Internet small computer system interface (iSCSI) protocol: A basic transport protocol for data and command to the object storage devices (OSDs)
• Remote procedure call (RPC) command support: Facilitates communication between metadata servers and compute nodes

How does object storage work?

Object storage volumes function as self-contained repositories and store data in modular units. Both the identifier and detailed metadata play a key role in the superior performance of load distribution. Once you create an object, it can be easily copied to additional nodes, depending on existing policies. Nodes with high availability and redundancy can be geographically dispersed or stored in the same data center.

Public cloud computing environments allow object storage to be accessed via HTTP or REST API. Most of the public cloud storage service providers usually offer APIs they themselves build. Some of the common commands sent to HTTP include PUT (for creating objects), GET (for reading objects), DELETE (for purging objects), and LIST (for listing objects).

What are the benefits of object storage?

Achieving peak performance on commodity server hardware becomes much easier with an object storage system. If your business has an exponentially growing data lake, i.e. pool of unstructured data, object storage is a must-have for organizing, managing, and accessing data. Here’s why:

• Ease of searchability: Objects in an object storage system are usually stored with unique IDs, customizable metadata, and HTTP URLs. All of these make it super easy for users to find objects and perform READ/WRITE operations. This ease of access and searchability makes object storage systems a go-to choice for organizations dealing with unstructured data.
• Unlimited scalability: Perhaps the biggest benefit of object storage systems is that they can easily scale when data grows. The flat structural architecture allows the horizontal addition of nodes and makes it easy to manage large volumes of data.
• Agility: Traditional file systems and databases aren’t usually agile and require rigorous professional maintenance. Object storage systems can manage themselves based on metadata instructions and allow developers to change apps without depending on the infrastructure team. This agility is what makes the information cycle management efficient for organizations adopting object storage solutions.
• Cost-effective recovery: An object storage system can copy objects to more than one node while creating an object. In the unlikely case of disasters, data recovery time becomes easier for organizations since these nodes are located around the world. This eliminates the need for storing large volumes of data in physical hardware and makes object storage cost-effective.
• Enhanced security: Cloud-based object storage solutions enable enterprises to store data securely with in-transit and at-rest encryption. Many cloud storage providers also offer other security features like ransomware protection, secure multi-tenancy, lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) authentication, data spill protection, and so on.

That said, object storage systems are not suitable for transactional and database data management. Plus, they don’t allow the alteration of a single piece of data. To edit one part of a block, one has to completely read and write the entire object.

How can object storage systems protect data from ransomware?

With complex systems come complex vulnerabilities. That’s why it’s super important to have a solid recovery strategy. One of the best ways to handle ransomware is to bypass the infection by restoring data through a secure backup. And object storage offers the perfect solution for this. Why?:

• No unauthorized data changes: Object storage has an immutable data storage architecture meaning it can’t be changed once written. That’s because the data is written using the write once read many (WORM) technology. Plus, administrators have the freedom to enable immutability at the bucket level. Since the data can’t be modified, it can’t be encrypted by ransomware. Some cloud storage providers also offer object lock functionality which works hand-in-hand with WORM to protect data at the device level.
• Multiple copies of data: More and more cybercriminals continue to use ransomware variants to target data backups instead of the data. The data versioning feature of an object storage system allows you to create a new copy of data while altering it. This means there’ll always be a copy of the original data even if a file is encrypted by ransomware.

Both data versioning and WORM protect data by targeting the backup layer where the data resides. Besides being immediately accessible, they reduce the recovery time as well.

Object storage best practices

Getting the most out of object storage isn’t easy. Irrespective of the type of unstructured data your organization deals with, it’s important to follow the best practices for managing your data.

• Discover data-intensive workloads: The first step of implementing object storage is to identify data-intensive workloads and applications. Look for applications that require streaming throughput, not high transaction rates. While object storage is ideal for larger data sets, think through if it makes sense for your application and data storage needs.
• Analyze proof-of-concept: Conducting a proof-of-concept is essential for identifying the right object storage platform. This helps you to gauge vendor capabilities and see whether they meet your needs. Consider using virtual machines for non-disruptive testing to ensure project success.
• Prepare for device failure: Multiple cloud storage providers offer 1 petabyte (PB) in a single device. These devices protect you from data loss and come with cost-effective pricing, but they usually take a longer rebuild time after a device failure incident. That’s why it’s best to divide large servers into independent nodes. You may also consider erasure coding-enabled cluster configurations that make devices resilient to failures.
• Meet users’ needs: With object storage systems, you can consolidate users and applications in a shared environment on a single system. Users need different service levels along with storage capacity and security. Leveraging quality of service (QoS) and multi-tenancy will help you to meet these needs.
• Capitalize on the power of rich metadata: Metadata eases the process of analyzing data and extracting insights from an object storage database. That’s why it’s crucial to leverage in-built metadata tags to make storage pools and data sets searchable.
• Automate workflow with integrations: Object solutions usually rely on S3 API for regulating how applications control data. Now, S3 API comes with 400+ verbs that can seamlessly handle different functions related to reporting, management, and integrations. Organizations should leverage this feature of object storage and work with DevOps to automate workflows.

Cloud object storage software use cases

What makes object storage options the first choice for enterprise storage is their ability to store larger amounts of unstructured data in a flat pool. Here are the industries that continue to leverage object storage via cloud services:

• Media and entertainment: Because of its scalability, media industries use object storage to store and manage large numbers of media files and multimedia assets. The presence of metadata makes it easier for organizations to identify and access these files at the moment of urgency. 
• Big data: Containing diverse and large datasets, big data barely fits into databases. That’s why organizations leveraging big data analytics prefer to use object storage. The scalable nature of object storage allows them to store petabytes of neural network and machine learning data for training models. 
• Healthcare: Healthcare organizations need to store large amounts of data, keep them secure, and comply with data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). They also need to store data that may not be frequently accessed and provide a uniform view of patient data to doctors. Inexpensive cloud-based object storage easily meets all these requirements. 
• Intensive data storage: Organizations dealing with files services or customer databases also benefit from object storage. The nature of their business requires them to streamline data storage in an easily accessible manner. Object storage is the ideal solution that ticks all these boxes.
• Storage as a service: Object storage is also the go-to storage solution for businesses looking for AWS S3 or S3-compatible storage. Most of these businesses either don’t want to deploy local storage systems or are looking for advanced functions like multi-tenancy, quality-of-service controls, and so on. And, that makes the case for S3 protocol or API adoption. 
• Backup and recovery: Some organizations also use object storage for data backup and recovery purposes. They do so to avoid data loss by backing it up across nodes in different data centers. Such organizations should look for the WORM functionality while choosing a cloud data storage provider. 
• Cold storage: Depending on the nature of their business, organizations may also need to store inactive data which is not accessed frequently. This collection of data is known as cold storage. Object storage solutions are cost-effective when it comes to storing this kind of data.
• Artifact storage: Artifacts are collections of logs and version files generated during the lifecycle of an application. Organizations often prefer to store these artifacts for further testing. Object storage’s unique URL distribution method makes it easier for developers to store and access this kind of file.

Object storage software

Choosing the right object storage software is mission-critical for storing scalable unstructured data. If you’re looking for robust features that allow flexibility, performance, and greater capability, let object-based storage software do the heavy lifting.

To be included in this category, the software product must:

• Store unstructured data and relevant metadata
• Facilitate data retrieval through APIs or HTTP/HTTPS
• Be offered by cloud service providers

*Below are the top 5 leading object storage software solutions from G2’s Fall 2021 Grid® Report. Some reviews may be edited for clarity.

1. Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) comes with a simple web services interface that allows you to store and retrieve data from anywhere on the web. It is known for its scalability, reliability, and inexpensive infrastructure.

What users like:

“We can store our data and access it at any time. We can make many IAM users and provide access to them. We can access the site by mobile. We can make a testing environment site and share the URL with the client. The S3 support team is very technical. They help and assist you if you need them. Their security is great. Our client data is always safe and we can download it any time.”

- Amazon S3 Review, Atul S.

What users dislike:

“It's a little complex when we set up the AWS S3 for the first time as we have to create a bucket through the console, set up policies, choose from various settings, a little headache for the beginners. The main issue I personally feel with AWS is that messing with AWS S3 settings without advanced knowledge ends up either leaking out the files over the internet or not serving at all.”

- Amazon S3 Review, Heena M.

2. Google Cloud Storage

Google Cloud Storage offers reliable and secure object storage with features like multiple redundancy options, easy data transfer, storage classes, and more. It also allows data configuration using object lifecycle management (OLM).

What users like:

“Google Cloud Storage is an awesome storage platform that has a high-class performance, reliability, and has great affordability to all of my storage needs. In my position of work where I have to deal with a lot of data, it is very easy to move data into the analysis process with the help of Google cloud storage by using BigQuery and API for data extraction.”

- Google Cloud Storage Review, Kelly T.

What users dislike:

“The data may end up in the hands of third parties. Security is the responsibility of the company, something that can bring problems to the user if there are failures. Total data access control is not available. Internet access is required at all times.”

- Google Cloud Storage Review, Corbet T.

3. Azure Blob Storage

Azure Blob Storage is a scalable object storage solution ideal for high-performance computing, cloud-native applications, and machine learning. It allows data to be accessed from anywhere via HTTP/HTTPS.

What users like:

“Blob storage is the main storage solution across Microsoft Azure. It has a lot of integrations and usage cases. The main strong features are infinite capacity, different redundancy types depending on your needs and budget, and virtual network endpoints.

Flexible access policy based on SAS tokens allows you to give permanent and temporary access without the need to revoke it manually. Lots of tools that can access storage accounts, you can even open it in SQL Server Management Studio, and manage your data through it. Incredible speed BLOBs are much faster even than local SSD drives of Azure VMs.”

- Azure Blob Storage Review, Gleb M.

What users dislike:

“The administration is a little tricky. Now there is an RBAC but previously it was only the SAS tokens. There is no simple way to use a custom domain with SSL certificates - have to use CDN.”

- Azure Blob Storage Review, Aleksander K.

4. DigitalOcean Spaces

DigitalOcean Spaces is an S3-compatible object storage solution that comes with an in-built content delivery network (CDN) and a drag-and-drop user interface (UI) or API for creating reliable storage space.

What users like:

“DigitalOcean Spaces is a great tool for storing images and files for your applications. It is easy to integrate with Java-based applications using Amazon SDK. It is very friendly to use and access using DigitalOcean UI. It is also affordable for a single developer. I use it for my application every day.”

- DigitalOcean Spaces Review, Sonam S.

What users dislike:

“Something that I don't like about spaces is the user interface. Also, you may face outages sometimes with space. You may need to check the status page of DigitalOcean occasionally.”

- DigitalOcean Spaces Review, Sachin A.

5. IBM Cloud Object Storage

IBM Cloud Object Storage offers scalable and cost-effective cloud storage for unstructured data. It comes loaded with features like high-speed file transfer, integrated services, cross-region offerings, and more.

What users like:

“I like IBM's Cloud Object Storage class option. IBM provides four types of storage options as Active (Standard), Smart Tier, Cool (Vault), Cold Vault. In our company, every IT team member owns an IBM cloud account and uses different services based on their job. As a cybersecurity team member, I monitor the system and store log data on IBM's active tier.

More importantly, the company has backups on IBM's Cold Vault service. I tested it and I can say it is secure and robust for our company. The migration process was easy and fast thanks to IBM's support desk. They did a really good job. During my security tests, IBM's service was the best amongst cloud services. Compliance check performance was the best.”

- IBM Cloud Object Storage Review, Nikola M.

What users dislike:

“I did find a couple of times that the system would lag and cause me to re-upload the data to store.”

- IBM Cloud Object Storage Review, Matthew B.

Store data sustainably with multi-petabyte capacities

Modern-day data storage needs to achieve permanence, availability, scalability, and security (PASS) for storing and managing large volumes of unstructured data. Cloud object storage solutions not only tick all these boxes but also come without the burden of cost. That’s why organizations are increasingly leveraging object storage software for creating public, private, or enterprise clouds.

Learn more about how to choose the right cloud storage provider for scaling unstructured data storage while staying cost-efficient.