Data centers are useful for storing large amounts of data. A common data storage question is whether you should store the data in blocks or in objects. There are benefits and disadvantages to both types of storage.
Blocking Storage
A block, sometimes known as a physical record, is a bit sequence, that contains a whole number of records and has a maximum length called a block size. Block storage divides files into blocks of even size. Each block has a unique address. Blocks don’t have metadata, unlike objects.
To store large quantities of data, block storage distributes the blocks among storage nodes. Public cloud providers let you create file systems on the block storage system. Block storage is ideal for backing up data in the cloud.
Object Storage
Object storage works well for unstructured data sets, where you typically read the data more than you write it. Basically, it is well-suited to writing data once and reading the data often. The object normally includes:
- The data. Data can be text, pictures, sound, or whatever you want to digitally store.
- A way of identifying the data. The identifier is an address for locating the object over a distributed system instead of a physical location. Object storage can spread that data out over different data centers.
- Metadata. Metadata contains information about the data such as its size, type of data, and security factors.
Unlike block storage, object storage spreads files across different storage nodes and devices.
The advantages of object-based storage
The big advantage with object storage is that the data doesn’t have to be physically next to each other. Object storage can spread the data across different nodes in different locations. The unique ID makes it easy to find and handle the data. Teams can use resources much more efficiently. With blocking storage, it can be hard or impossible to distribute data across more than a few servers.
Object storage is good for:
- Systems that need to read a lot of data more than once but that don’t need to write (update or change) the data more than once.
- Doing large-scale analytics, since you can index the data for easy searching without changing it after you write it.
- Backups, because object storage can distribute the data to different locations.
- Data growth because it’s not as tied to the physical system that holds the data.
- Data that you need to customize. Object storage works well for data that needs to stay readily available, the way Facebook stores photos.
Object storage doesn’t work well for databases where you constantly update records.
Because object storage distributes objects across nodes, it delivers less downtime.
The advantages of block storage
Block storage is good for:
- Modifying data, since block storage lets you reach the data directly. With object storage, modifying a file means uploading a new version, which can slow performance.
- Databases that require constant modifications (updates, deletes, and additions).
- Input/output speed. This makes block storage good for caching, for example.
- Virtual machine file systems.
Unlike object storage, block storage allows for incremental edits to part of a file. With object storage, you need to edit the whole object.
Review which storage system (block or object) works best for your company
Choosing the right data storage method depends on a variety of factors. These considerations include your need for backups, the type of data you’re storing, how often you change it, and how often you access it. To learn more about the pros and cons of each method and which storage strategy works best for your company, please contact us and ask to speak with one of our data storage consultants.
Discover how Volico can help you with your Data Storage needs.
• Call: (305) 735-8098
• Chat with a member of our team to discuss which solution best fits your needs.
