What is cloud storage

Cloud storage is a cloud computing model that enables storing data and files on the internet through a cloud computing provider that access either through the public internet or a dedicated private network connection.

That is to say, we can store our files or data in the cloud storage provided by certain providers, then we can visit or download it through the internet.

Benefits of cloud storage

Security: Generally, we store our files, including audio, video, pictures, etc in our phone, laptop, or PC, but if the devices once are stolen or destroyed, we can’t retrieve our data, data is priceless. Cloud storage devices will not be stolen, and we can make our data backups to various data centers.
Scalability: Sometimes, We don’t know what size should we choose when buying a hard drive, phone, or laptop. As media files get bigger and bigger, we have to upgrade our storage facilities. Cloud storage is elastic, meaning you scale up and down with the demand you need and pay only for what you use.
Collaboration: The data is able to be shared with anyone with customizable permissions, anywhere and anytime through the Internet.

Types of cloud storage

Block storage

Block storage breaks data into blocks, each with a unique identifier, and then stores those blocks as separate pieces on the server. Block storage is generally bundled with a cloud server for the most efficiency. Block storage is best used for large volumes of data that require low latency such as workloads that require high performance or databases.

File storage

File storage organizes data in a hierarchical format of files and folders. File storage is common in personal computing where data is saved as files and those files are organized in folders. File storage makes it easy to locate and retrieve individual data items when they are needed. File storage is most often used in directories and data repositories.

Object storage

Object storage is a data storage architecture for large stores of unstructured data. It designates each piece of data as an object, keeps it in a separate storehouse, and bundles it with metadata and a unique identifier for easy access and retrieval.

graph TD
  a1[Application] -- iSCSI --> LBA[Logic Block Address] -- Logic volume management --> bs[(Block Storage)]
	a2[Application] -- NFS/SMB --> f[File name/ID] --> fm[File management system] -- tree indexes --> fs[(File storage)]
	a3[Application] -- HTTP/HTTPS --> on[Object name/ID] --> om[Object management system] -- Key/value indexes --> os[(Object storage)]

Storage type	Block storage	File storage	Object storage
Transport protocal	SCSI/iSCSI	NFS/SMB/HDFS	HTTP(s),Restful API
Storage cell	data block	file	object(data+meta data + key)
Access mode	Logic block Addr.	tree indexes/ID	object indexes/ID
Product cases	SAN, cloud drive	NAS, HDFS	standard storage
Usage scenario	database, OLTP stystem	file sharing	unstructured data, web content(audio, video, picture)

Storage providers

Block storage is always bundled with the host, so it depends on what provider you choose.