How to manage storage? Which solution? 

File, block and object storage are the three main types of enterprise data storage. Each has its own advantages and limitations.

Block storage, in its simplest form, first appeared in the 1960s. It divides a file into distinct data blocks, which are stored as separate data. Each piece of data is associated with a specific address. It is therefore not necessary to store them in a file structure.

Since then, two other variants have appeared. File-based storage was inspired by block-based storage decades later. Object storage appeared much later, pioneered by Seagate in the 1990s.

All three have their uses, as we shall see.

File storage is ideal for organized, structured data. It is path-based and stores data hierarchically (files in folders, folders in directories). Each piece of information is kept in a folder to facilitate its organization within other data. It is hierarchical, just like paper documents, which are stored in boxes.

To locate data, you need to know where it is in the hierarchy. This can be time-consuming when a file system is large. Imagine trying to find a document in the six-year stack of Microsoft Office files on your personal computer. The need to archive large data is far greater than that. Navigating the hierarchy of a file system can be a laborious task.

Storage pool

Nor is file storage very scalable, since growth requires adding more and more folders and directories. However, it is useful for companies with a limited number of files who want all this data to be available on a local network.

Object storage, the latest addition to the family of data storage options, has made a name for itself. It takes each piece of data and designates it as an object. Unlike files, which are stored in folders, data is held in different warehouses, where it is grouped together with associated metadata and a unique identifier to form a pool.

It stores data in a pool, not in a hierarchy. Data need not be structured, as is the case with file systems. It can be disparate, random elements of unstructured data. Data stored in objects is given metadata (if you know the object's metadata, you can easily query it) and a unique identifier. In this way, data stored in objects is easy to locate.

The reason object storage is so popular is because it is necessary for companies with significant data storage and analysis needs. Data archiving needs have increased dramatically over the last decade due to applications and the cloud. Companies need to store large amounts of customer data, simply to keep up.

Reduce latency

That's where object storage platforms come in. They are scalable and flexible for large, unstructured enterprise data stores. Many vendors claim that their object storage is unlimited, simply because they've never reached the end of it. This is very attractive for companies that need to store a lot of information.

A potential disadvantage of object storage is that it is not as easy to modify quickly. If companies need to process large volumes of data quickly, they are likely to run into difficulties (unlike blocks, which are easier to modify).

Overall, it's simply not as fast as file or block storage. It's true that it also stores much more data, and that sorting out additional metadata takes time. However, the situation could change with NVMe over Fabrics. This extension of the NVMe network protocol to Ethernet and Fibre Channel systems accelerates and strengthens connectivity between storage solutions and servers. This will considerably reduce latency when combined with object storage.

A solution for every company

Object storage is the best solution for IoT data at the edge of a network. Companies that need to quickly analyze unstructured, unreliable IoT data will start to turn to an edge-oriented storage system. Because it uses small servers rather than huge servers in data centers.

So, what's the best solution for your needs? If your company has a reasonable number of files to organize, file storage is probably the best option.

If a company frequently accesses its data to make changes, block storage is a good choice. It doesn't have the limitations and potential slowdown of data retrieval, as file-based storage does.

Finally, if a company has a large number of applications requiring the analysis of large volumes of data, object storage will enable it to meet these analysis demands.