Learn the Differences Between Block, File and Object Storage.

Foundations of Data Engineering

Block vs File Vs Object Storage

A comparison of block, file, and object storage, outlining the main distinctions between them and which best suits your needs.

Data is one of your company’s most significant assets. You must choose where and how to keep each individual piece of data as well as bigger data sets, including those from big data analytics, financial information, personnel records, and bespoke applications.

Although businesses frequently use a variety of storage devices, storage choices should be based on the individual pieces of data. This article will give a high-level understanding of each storage technology block, file, and object as well as how each affects how business choices are made.

As file interfaces on object storage and object interfaces on file storage are both common in modern businesses, knowing the original purpose of each storage strategy can be helpful as you assess storage technologies and how they align with your particular business objectives.

From a technological standpoint, improving business choices begins with the external interface and the underlying storage architecture.

Block Storage

This is the most basic type of storage from the outside. It functions as a kind of operating system and database operating system. For what is occurring above it, the data block acts as an abstraction. The sub-system may update certain blocks since it is aware of the addresses of the blocks (data segments).

Block storage is perfect for low latency, high transaction situations because software and other data structures, like files, are made up of thousands of blocks and can be updated in granular segments. If anything changes, you simply need to update a small portion of the data rather than the complete piece.

Use Cases:

Use cases for block storage are:

• Databases’ storage.
• RAID volumes.
• Data storage for critical systems that impact business operations.
• Data storage in file systems for operating systems for virtualization software vendors.