Storage systems manage access to information in one of three forms: As blocks of data of a predefined size, as files within a file structure or as objects stored with metadata that describe the information. Block storage systems and file-based network-attached storage systems are pervasive in IT environments today.
Object-based storage systems aren’t necessarily new, but a new generation of object storage is gaining traction due to its massive scalability, flat namespace for access, data durability with immutability, self-protection and integrity validation.
The most important aspect of object storage is not the underlying technology or implementation specifics. Instead, it’s that it solves problems that are not effectively addressed with more familiar block or file storage mechanisms, especially when it comes to high-capacity growth areas.
For uses such as large content repositories and storage for big data analytics, whether in public clouds from cloud service providers or in private clouds in traditional IT, an object storage device can handle billions of objects and petabytes or exabytes of capacity.
Read the full article on Storage Data Center.
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