Cloud object storage has emerged as a scalable and cost-efficient way to store large amounts of unstructured data. With object storage, data is stored in containers or buckets without any hierarchy, making it easier to scale storage on demand.
In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the top 11 cloud object storage services available today and what sets them apart.
What is Cloud Object Storage?
Before diving into the different services, let‘s first understand what cloud object storage is and why it may be the ideal storage choice for your workloads.
Cloud object storage is a storage architecture that manages data as objects in containers or buckets. These objects consist of the data itself, metadata, and a globally unique identifier. The key difference when compared to traditional file and block storage is that data is not stored in a hierarchy.
The benefits of this approach include:
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Scalability: Object storage is designed as a data lake that can scale to store petabytes of data securely. Since there is no limit on object sizes or number, it can handle exponential growth seamlessly.
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Durability: Copies of objects are stored redundantly across multiple physical locations. Some providers like AWS S3 offer 99.999999999% durability.
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Cost and Performance: With no predetermined capacity or IOPS limits, you only pay for what you store and use. Latencies are consistent, even as the data volumes grow larger. Data storage costs are also much lower than traditional storage mediums.
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Flexibility: Without rigid storage tiers like hot and cold data, your data is simpler to organize and search. You are only limited by your metadata. Global namespaces make accessing data across regions easier too.
Overall, object storage is ideal for data that needs to be retrievable but not modified often. Use cases include media assets, data archive and backup, large analytical datasets, IoT/sensor data, file repositories and many more.
Next, we look at the 11 major object storage services in detail:
1. Amazon S3
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) pioneered the market for cloud object storage. It leverages AWS‘s position as the largest cloud provider to provide virtually unlimited and highly durable storage.
Some key capabilities include:
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Storage classes for different access patterns: Standard, Standard-IA, One Zone-IA and Glacier for archival data. Optionally move objects across storage tiers automatically.
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Security via encryption, access policies and versioning. Integrates with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
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Replication across S3 buckets in different AWS Regions enables disaster recovery and lower latency
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Integrates natively with other AWS services for data flows and backups
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Pay only for what you use. Also offers reserved capacity discounts.
With 11 nines (99.999999999%) of durability, Amazon S3 provides robust enterprise-grade object storage for cloud-native workloads across the globe.
2. Google Cloud Storage
Part of Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Cloud Storage (GCS) builds upon the search giant‘s experience in running planet-scale storage for over two decades.
Salient features relevant to object storage:
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4 storage classes similar to S3 – Standard, Nearline, Coldline and Archive
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Automatic lifecycle management policies. Move data across tiers without rewriting applications
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Access controls integrate with GCP Identity and Access Management
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Dual-region and regional options for availability. Geo-redundant storage leverages Google‘s global network
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Integrates natively with Google Cloud and G Suite products
A cost-competitive and fully-managed solution for your buckets that requires minimal operational overhead.
3. DigitalOcean Spaces
Looking for an affordable yet high-performing object storage option? DigitalOcean Spaces deserves your evaluation.
Here‘s an overview:
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Simple buckets managed via API/CLI, libraries and a web UI
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Built-in CDN provides lower latency and high throughput globally
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Supports existing S3 apps and tools for easier migration
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Price lower than AWS/Azure/Google with no egress fees
As a developer-friendly cloud geared for SMBs, Spaces prioritizes ease of use and flexibility. Leverage it over 55+ data center regions across the globe. Opensource SDKs available.
Overall, Spaces punches way above its weight when compared to services from larger hyperscalers.
4. Bunny Cloud Object Storage
Bunny Edge Storage takes a slightly different approach to object storage. As part of the BunnyCDN content delivery network, it provides tight integration between storage and streaming distributed content.
Here‘s a quick look at the benefits you get:
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5x faster downloads and lower latencies than traditional object storage
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Infinite scalability and storage integrated with the Bunny CDN
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Automatic replication provides high availability across regions
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Supports all S3 functionality
Bunny storage takes advantage of over 200 edge locations. Ideal for use cases like video streaming, gaming, e-Commerce and IoT that require rapid data access. Attractive pricing options as well.
5. Vultr Object Storage
Vultr Object Storage brings the startup‘s SSD-boosted performance to scalable cloud storage:
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Consistent low latency and high IOPS via NVMe-backed cache
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Fully redundant storage across availability zones
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Access via S3 API and AWS CLI
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Pay only for consumed storage. Scale up and down.
If you have less than 1TB of data, Vultr is very cost-competitive. The ease of scaling and Vultr‘s long-term cost savings make it worth evaluating.
6. Rackspace Cloud Files
Rackspace Cloud Files offers enterprise-grade object storage, CDN and lifecycle management in a single suite:
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Integrated Akamai CDN provides blazing fast delivery of cloud-hosted content
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Openstack Swift-based S3 compatible object storage
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Real-time analytics via Cloud Files Control Panel
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Definable ACLs and temporary URLs enhance security
Rackspace offers extensive fanatical support and expertise in migrating complex workloads. A good fit if you‘re looking to minimize business disruption.
7. Cloudflare R2
Cloudflare R2 object storageintelligently caches data close to users to accelerate access:
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Integrates with Cloudflare‘s edge network spanning 275 cities globally
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In-transit and at-rest encryption safeguards your data
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S3-compatible and exposes objects via Cloudflare Workers serverless platform
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Multi-cloud compatible. Migrate data across AWS, Google Cloud easily
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No vendor lock-in lets you move data in and out freely
As a DDoS mitigation leader, Cloudflare ensures your data remains online and safe from attacks. Cost-competitive packages overall.
8. IBM Cloud Object Storage
IBM Cloud Object Storage focuses on security, resiliency and ease of management across on-premise and cloud environments.
Key aspects at a glance:
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Encrypt data and metadata stored on cloud-native standard S3 architecture
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Tier data across Hot, Cool and Cold classes based on access patterns
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Flexible deployment as on-prem software, IBM Cloud instance or hybrid model
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Access storage from compute clusters running analytics workloads in the IBM Cloud
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Free 25GB storage to test. Pay as you grow pricing
IBM Cloud brings enterprise scale and robustness of on-prem infrastructure. Well suited for regulated industries and hybrid cloud storage strategies.
9. Alibaba Cloud OSS
Part of the Alibaba Cloud portfolio, Object Storage Service (OSS) is a secure, scalable and high-performance storage platform:
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Over 50,000 requests/second throughput and multi-zone redundancy
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Integrated with Alibaba Cloud CDN and other services
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Pay-As-You-Go billing. No request or storage size limits imposed
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S3-compatible for easier application migration
OSS makes it easy for enterprises to leverage Alibaba‘s tech innovations in AI/ML and global infrastructure. Supports emerging storage paradigms like object-based storage devices (OSD).
10. Microsoft Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage brings Microsoft‘s enterprise experience to cloud-scale object storage:
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Seamlessly tier block blobs across Hot, Cool and Archive
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Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) replicates data across availability zones
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Integrates tightly across Azure eco-system – VMs, analytics and databases
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Free access tier allows limited usage for dev/test
As a leading hyperscale IaaS/PaaS provider, Azure matches well if you intend to run storage and compute within a single cloud ecosystem.
11. Oracle Cloud Object Storage
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure offers managed Object Storage promising security, high performance and reliability:
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Fully managed and scales automatically as per demand
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Access via a cloud console and OpenStack Swift APIs
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Built-in encryption. Isolation via dedicated tenant infrastructure
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Dual regions enable automatic geo-redundancy
By leveraging Oracle‘s advanced RMAN database backup capabilities, enterprises can define granular policies to protect critical data across hybrid environments as well. Worth checking out!
Key Selection Criteria
We‘ve covered the 11 most popular and capable cloud object storage options suitable for enterprises today. However, identifying the right one for your needs depends on several additional aspects:
Data location: Based on where your target users are located, choose object storage located nearby across continents like North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Data lifecycle policies: If you want to tier storage across hot, warm and cold, some services allow automating this while some may need custom scripts.
Security requirements: Sensitive data has more stringent needs around encryption, isolation and access controls. Refer to providers‘ compliance certifications.
In-house vs. Hybrid environments: Whether you need integration across your self-hosted IT or run fully in the cloud determines platform support needed.
Budget and egress fees: Monthly storage budgets and additional network transfer charges contribute to higher costs. Watch out for hidden fees.
Migration effort: Whether any code changes are needed when moving legacy storage via lift-and-shift approaches to the cloud.
Evaluating along these six facets helps narrow down on an ideal long-term object storage service matched to your workloads.
Conclusion: Prepare for Exponential Data Growth
Object storage has clearly evolved from being just cheap data archives to becoming performance-oriented and secure storage repositories at the core of data-first strategies.
As unstructured data like video, IoT feeds and sensor data becomes a prime driver of storage growth over structured databases, the ability to cost-effectively scale and accommodate many kinds of data under one umbrella has made cloud object storage indispensable.
It removes the painful choices enterprises had to make previously about what data to retain versus purge when hitting capacity limits. Virtually every industry now relies on being data-driven, and object storage provides the scalable foundation to make this realizable.
Hopefully, this guide has helped clearly distinguish the strengths and sweet spots of some of the most advanced and enterprise-ready object storage platform offerings. Evaluate options like replication, lifecycle management and security controls during your proof-of-concept trials.
Once comfortable, expand usage gradually via well-scoped projects instead of a big bang approach. As your demands grow over time, object storage will prove one of the most future-proof decisions taken today.
