Lesson 4 · Storage

Storage Types

Disk tiers describe how fast and how cheap storage is. Storage type describes something different — the shape the data takes. Block, file, and object storage each organize data differently, and picking the right one matters as much as picking the right disk.

4.2

Storage Types

Storage is divided into three types: block, file, and object. Cloud storage is optimized for each type, and you must select the appropriate storage based on the data you're managing. Click each type below.

INFO — Block storage such as AWS EBS provides high availability and redundancy by replicating data within the same availability zone that hosts the storage — EC2 instances must reside in that same zone. This differs from S3, which may replicate data between availability zones.

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Buckets are the primary storage unit for data objects. You'll create one or more buckets when you begin working with cloud storage, choosing a region — usually the one nearest your location — where each bucket is created. Buckets get a globally unique name and location, so your organization should design a naming convention up front. Here's the general flow for creating one in AWS.

STEP 1

Storage service

STEP 2

S3 category

STEP 3

Buckets

STEP 4

Create bucket

Before storing data in a bucket, you must also assign it a storage class — for example, use a frequent-access class for data like user files, or an archival class if you're storing data you rarely expect to touch again.

S3 Standard

FREQUENT ACCESS

Suited to data accessed often, such as user files — prioritizes fast retrieval over storage cost.

S3 Glacier

ARCHIVAL

Suited to archiving data in an AWS environment — prioritizes low storage cost over retrieval speed.

INFO — In public clouds, storage and other resources are shared among multiple tenants. A key security factor is the tenant identifier that uniquely labels each consumer and helps filter resource access — tenant IDs are assigned to namespaces within which storage buckets are then created for further data management.

§ 4.2 · Storage Types