STORAGE CONCEPTS

This page details the storage concepts for a linux system.

FILE

BLOCK

In a block storage system, you can break the data into independent fixed-size blocks or pieces. Each block is an individual piece of data storage. A complete piece of information, such as a data file, is stored in multiple, nonsequential blocks.

The block storage system does not maintain high-level metadata, such as file type, ownership, and timestamp. Developers must design a data lookup table in the application system to manage the storage of data into respective blocks. The application might store data in different operating environments to increase read/write efficiency.

OBJECT

Object storage is a technology that stores and manages data in an unstructured format called objects. Each object is tagged with a unique identifier and contains metadata that describes the underlying content. For example, object storage for photos contains metadata regarding the photographer, resolution, format, and creation time.

Developers use object storage to store unstructured data, such as text, video, and images.