Cloud Storage Types: Block, File, Object, Data Lake, and Warehouse Explained
Cloud Storage Types in Cloud Infrastructure
Cloud computing provides different storage types designed for various workloads. Below is a breakdown of each type:
1. Block Storage
- Hardware Used: SSDs, HDDs, NVMe drives
- Pricing Unit: per GB/month
- Major Providers & Products:
- AWS: EBS
- Azure: Disk Storage
- GCP: Persistent Disk
- OCI: Block Volume
- IBM Cloud: Block Storage
- VMware: vSAN
- Average Pricing: $0.05 - $0.10 per GB/month
- Real-World Applications: Databases, Virtual Machines, Boot Volumes
2. File Storage
- Hardware Used: SSDs, HDDs, NAS devices
- Pricing Unit: per GB/month
- Major Providers & Products:
- AWS: EFS
- Azure: Files
- GCP: Filestore
- OCI: File Storage
- IBM Cloud: File Storage
- VMware: vSAN File Services
- Average Pricing: $0.03 - $0.12 per GB/month
- Real-World Applications: File sharing, content repositories, home directories
3. Object Storage
- Hardware Used: SSDs, HDDs, Distributed cloud storage
- Pricing Unit: per GB/month, sometimes per request
- Major Providers & Products:
- AWS: S3
- Azure: Blob Storage
- GCP: Cloud Storage
- OCI: Object Storage
- IBM Cloud: Object Storage
- VMware: vSAN Object
- Average Pricing: $0.01 - $0.025 per GB/month
- Real-World Applications: Backups, archives, media storage, static web hosting
4. Data Lake
- Hardware Used: Distributed storage clusters (HDD + SSD), cloud object storage
- Pricing Unit: per GB/month
- Major Providers & Products:
- AWS: Lake Formation
- Azure: Data Lake Storage
- GCP: Data Lake
- OCI: Data Lake
- Average Pricing: $0.01 - $0.03 per GB/month
- Real-World Applications: Big data analytics, machine learning, IoT data aggregation
5. Data Warehouse
- Hardware Used: Columnar storage on SSD/HDD clusters
- Pricing Unit: per TB/month or per query
- Major Providers & Products:
- AWS: Redshift
- Azure: Synapse Analytics
- GCP: BigQuery
- OCI: Autonomous Data Warehouse
- IBM: Db2 Warehouse
- Snowflake
- Average Pricing: $20 - $50 per TB/month
- Real-World Applications: Business intelligence, reporting, analytics on structured data
6. Archive Storage
- Hardware Used: HDDs, tape-based cloud storage
- Pricing Unit: per GB/month
- Major Providers & Products:
- AWS: Glacier
- Azure: Archive Blob Storage
- GCP: Coldline
- OCI: Archive Storage
- IBM Cloud: Archive Storage
- Average Pricing: $0.004 - $0.01 per GB/month
- Real-World Applications: Long-term backups, compliance, rarely accessed data
Quick Comparison of Cloud Storage Types
| Storage Type | Pricing (Avg) | Typical Use Cases |
|---|---|---|
| Block Storage | $0.05 - $0.10 per GB/month | Databases, Virtual Machines, Boot Volumes |
| File Storage | $0.03 - $0.12 per GB/month | File sharing, Content Repositories, Home Directories |
| Object Storage | $0.01 - $0.025 per GB/month | Backups, Archives, Media Storage, Static Websites |
| Data Lake | $0.01 - $0.03 per GB/month | Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning, IoT Data Aggregation |
| Data Warehouse | $20 - $50 per TB/month | Business Intelligence, Reporting, Analytics on Structured Data |
| Archive Storage | $0.004 - $0.01 per GB/month | Long-term Backups, Compliance, Rarely Accessed Data |
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