Cloud storage is a critical component of cloud computing, holding the information used by your workload. Cloud storage is typically more reliable, scalable, and secure than traditional on-premises storage systems. Select from object, block, and file storage services, and cloud data migration options for your workload. Let's delve into the core concepts of cloud storage and discuss the different types of storage provided by AWS, to help you select the right service for your needs.
How Does Storage Work in AWS?
Cloud storage functions by stashing data on remote servers that can be accessed via the Internet. These servers are typically operated by third-party cloud service providers, who charge customers for the utilized storage capacity.
There are three fundamental operations in cloud storage – writing (uploading data), reading (downloading data), and deleting data. Some systems also allow modifications to parts of a file without needing to read or write the entire file. Cloud storage solutions can be grouped into three main categories: object storage, file storage, and block storage.
What are the 3 Types of Storage in AWS?
Object Storage:
provides a scalable, durable platform to make data accessible from any internet location for user-generated content, active archive, serverless computing, Big Data storage, or backup and recovery. Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is an object storage service that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. Amazon S3 is designed for 99.999999999% (11 9's) of durability, and stores data for millions of applications for companies all around the world.
Block Storage:
provides highly available, consistent, low-latency block storage for each virtual host and is analogous to direct-attached storage (DAS) or a Storage Area Network (SAN). Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) is designed for workloads that require persistent storage accessible by EC2 instances that help you tune applications with the right storage capacity, performance and cost.
File Storage:
provides access to a shared file system across multiple systems. File storage solutions like Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) are ideal for use cases such as large content repositories, development environments, media stores, or user home directories. Amazon FSx makes it efficient and cost-effective to launch and run popular file systems so you can leverage the rich feature sets and fast performance of widely used open-source and commercially licensed file systems.
Storage Services in AWS
When it comes to storing data in the cloud, AWS offers a wide array of services to cater to different use cases, performance needs, and budget constraints. Each of these AWS storage services brings its unique blend of features, making AWS a versatile platform that can handle virtually any cloud storage needs. Selecting the appropriate service depends on the specific requirements of your workloads and applications. Let's deep dive into these services and understand how each can be applied to meet your storage needs.
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is an object storage service that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. Customers of all sizes and industries can use Amazon S3 to store and protect any amount of data for a range of use cases, such as data lakes, websites, mobile applications, backup and restore, archive, enterprise applications, IoT devices, and big data analytics. Amazon S3 provides management features so that you can optimize, organize, and configure access to your data to meet your specific business, organizational, and compliance requirements.
Amazon Elastic Block Store
Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) provides block-level storage volumes for use with EC2 instances. EBS volumes behave like raw, unformatted block devices. You can mount these volumes as devices on your instances. EBS volumes that are attached to an instance are exposed as storage volumes that persist independently from the life of the instance. You can create a file system on top of these volumes, or use them in any way you would use a block device (such as a hard drive). You can dynamically change the configuration of a volume attached to an instance.
Amazon Elastic File System
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is a fully managed, scalable file storage solution for use with AWS Cloud services and on-premises resources. It supports Network File System versions 4.0 and 4.1 (NFSv4) protocols and is an excellent choice for use cases requiring shared file storage, such as content management systems and development environments.
Amazon FSx for Lustre
Amazon FSx for Lustre is a fully managed, high-performance, scalable file storage for compute-intensive workloads such as high-performance computing, machine learning, and media data processing workflows. It's designed to provide fast processing for large datasets and integrates seamlessly with S3.
Amazon FSx for Windows File Server
Amazon FSx for Windows File Server provides fully managed, reliable, and scalable file storage that is accessible over the industry-standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. It's designed to support a broad range of enterprise workloads, including home directories, web serving, and content management.
AWS Backup
AWS Backup is a fully managed backup service that simplifies the process of backing up data across multiple AWS services. It provides centralized backup activity tracking, compliance monitoring, and offers support for application-consistent backups. You can automate and manage backups across AWS services, including EBS volumes, RDS databases, DynamoDB tables, EFS file systems, and more.
AWS Storage Gateway
AWS Storage Gateway is a hybrid cloud storage service that provides on-premises applications with seamless, low-latency access to virtually unlimited cloud storage. It integrates with your existing applications via standard storage protocols and provides cost-effective, secure, and durable cloud storage for backup, disaster recovery, and data archiving.
Conclusion
Understanding the different storage options provided by AWS is key to ensuring that your storage solution effectively meets your needs. By considering factors such as the type of data you're dealing with, the required performance, and the need for scalability and security, you can make an informed choice about which AWS storage service is right for you. Whether you're dealing with object, file, or block data, AWS has a storage solution that can handle your workloads.
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