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What is Storage in the cloud?

Cloud computing has transformed the way we store and access data. Instead of relying on physical servers or personal hardware, organizations can leverage cloud storage to achieve flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency. However, not all cloud storage is the same. There are different types designed for specific use cases and performance needs. In this blog, we’ll break down the types of cloud storage: Block Volume, Object Storage, and File Storage - highlighting their differences and use cases.

Block Volume​

Block storage provides raw storage volumes that act like traditional hard drives. These volumes are attached to virtual machines and can be formatted with a file system. Data is stored in fixed-size blocks, and the system retrieves these blocks directly, making it highly efficient for performance-heavy workloads.

Key Characteristics:

  • Attached to a single VM at a time (like a local hard drive)
  • Low latency and high input/output operations per second (IOPS)
  • Requires formatting with a file system (e.g., ext4, NTFS)

Use Cases:

  • Databases that need consistent high performance
  • Virtual machine boot disks
  • Applications that require fast, structured read/write operations

Object Storage​

Object storage is designed for massive amounts of unstructured data. Instead of storing data in blocks or hierarchies, it saves files as objects that contain the data itself, metadata, and a unique identifier. This makes it highly scalable and accessible via APIs.

Key Characteristics:

  • Stores data as objects (not blocks or files)
  • Accessed over HTTP/HTTPS
  • Scales easily to petabytes and beyond
  • Cost-effective for large-scale storage

Use Cases:

  • Backup and archival of critical data
  • Media content (images, audio, video)
  • Big data and analytics datasets
  • Application logs and analytics

File Storage​

File storage stores data in a traditional hierarchical file-and-folder structure. It allows multiple users or systems to access the same files concurrently through protocols like NFS (Network File System) or SMB (Server Message Block). While widely used in enterprises, it is not available on our cloud platform.

Key Characteristics:

  • Shared access via standard file system protocols
  • Familiar file-and-folder hierarchy
  • Ideal for collaborative access

Use Cases:

  • Shared content repositories
  • Enterprise applications requiring concurrent access
  • Home directories for users

Key Differences​

  • Data Structure: Block storage saves data in small fixed-size chunks, object storage saves entire files with metadata as objects, and file storage organizes everything in a folder hierarchy.
  • Access Method: Block storage is mounted to a VM and behaves like a disk, object storage is accessed via APIs (HTTP/HTTPS), while file storage is accessed using file sharing protocols like NFS or SMB.
  • Scalability: Block storage is limited to how much a VM can attach, object storage scales virtually without limit, and file storage scales within the limits of its file system.
  • Best Fit: Use block storage for databases and transactional apps, object storage for backups, media, and analytics, and file storage for shared repositories and enterprise apps that need multiple user access.

Choosing the right type of cloud storage depends on your workload needs. Block Volumes are best for high-performance applications and databases, Object Storage is the go-to for large-scale, unstructured data, and File Storage though not supported on our cloud—is useful for shared file system use cases.