Object storage

In computer science, “object” refers to binary data, often known as a Binary Large OBject (BLOB). BLOBs can encompass images, audio files, spreadsheets, and even binary executable code.

Object storage refers to a platform that provides specialized tools for storing, retrieving, and locating BLOBs. In terms of practical applications, it is a type of data storage architecture designed for large amounts of unstructured data, such as videos, audio files, images, and documents. It organizes objects into buckets, similar to folders in a file system, with each bucket able to hold an unlimited number of objects. Unlike traditional file and block storage, object storage does not utilize a hierarchical file system. Instead, it has a flat address space, where data is stored as objects containing raw data, metadata, and a unique identifier.

Object storage is superior to block and file storage in several ways:

• Security: object storage provides higher levels of data durability by replicating data across multiple nodes and storing it in a flat address space, minimizing the risk of data loss in the event of a node failure.
• Scalability: object storage is designed to handle large amounts of unstructured data in a high-performance manner, making it ideal for storing and accessing vast quantities of files, images, videos, and other data types.
• Cost-effectiveness: object storage eliminates the need for expensive data tiering, making it more cost-effective than traditional file and block storage.

File storage vs block storage vs object storage

Data storage methods have progressed over the years to adapt to the changing nature of data. File-based and block-based storage are well-suited to structured data, but as organizations face increasing volumes of unstructured data, object-based storage has emerged as the superior solution. File storage organizes data within folders and is based on a hierarchy of directories and subdirectories. It works well for small, easily organized data, but as the number of files grows, it becomes cumbersome and time-consuming. Block storage breaks down a file into equally-sized blocks and stores them separately, offering improved efficiency and performance for critical business applications and transactional databases. Object storage, on the other hand, treats objects as discrete units of data stored in a structurally flat environment, with each object including raw data, metadata, and a unique identifier. It offers cost-effective storage capacity for unstructured data and is ideal for data that does not change frequently or at all. Additionally, it provides more descriptive metadata than file storage, allowing for customization and further analysis.

GDX Cloud

GDX Cloud, short for Distributed Simple Storage Service, is a geo-distributed, S3-compatible object storage platform. Its buckets have comparable functionality to AWS S3 buckets, providing reliable and scalable storage solutions for unstructured data. Additionally, the geo-distributed nature of GDX Cloud solution provides users with enhanced security and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional centralized cloud storage solutions. Being S3 compatible, GDX Cloud can offer state-of-the-art solutions for data protection, distribution, and retrieval, such as:

• Object Locking
• Bucket Versioning
• Multipart Upload