Object Storage S3: Understanding everything from A to Z

1 – What is object storage? What is it used for? How does it work?

a) Definition of object storage

At its core, object storage stands out by treating data not as a stream or hierarchy, but as individual, self-contained, and easily identifiable entities. Each “object” is essentially a data capsule, containing the content (such as a document, image, or video) and a rich set of metadata that goes beyond standard file attributes like size or modification date. This metadata can include custom tags, replication information, and a unique identifier, often in the form of a URL, which allows access to the object regardless of its physical location.

Object storage emerged as a solution to the growing need to efficiently and massively manage unstructured data, from social media photos to enterprise backups, video surveillance archives, and massive IoT (Internet of Things) sensor data. It is also the backbone of many modern data lakes, supporting big data processing, AI and machine learning workloads, and scalable content repositories. These use cases often rely on well-structured systems of S3 buckets and objects, where each object is uniquely identifiable and easily managed. Object storage is particularly suited for data archiving solutions and use cases requiring high availability storage.

Throughout this article, we’ll also touch on our French object storage solution: Leviia Storag3. Sovereign, secure, geo-replicated, and cost-effective, Leviia Object Storage is designed to be the ideal solution for offsite backups for businesses and public organizations.

b) Object Storage vs. File Storage vs. Block Storage

This storage technology was developed to address issues related to:

• Traditional file storage, where data is organized in directories and subdirectories.
• Block storage, which is less suitable for unstructured data due to its rigidity. Its organization is more complex and lacks the ease of access and scalability needed to handle large data volumes effectively.

These storage types are limited in scalability, performance, and management at a large scale, partly because of how data is organized and tied to its physical location. Object storage breaks this dependency by decoupling data from its physical location. Data is not organized in a folder hierarchy but is instead stored in a flat, non-hierarchical space. This approach eliminates structural constraints and offers great flexibility for copying, deploying, and accessing data. Data access is achieved via a unique identifier for each object, typically a URI, removing the need to locate data through traditional file paths or specific block addresses.

The strategic importance of object storage lies in its ability to meet the demands of a digital economy that generates, consumes, and requires rapid, efficient access to large volumes of unstructured data.

2 – Who invented object storage?

a) The democratization of object storage

Object storage wasn’t invented by a single entity or person but evolved from distributed file systems in the 1990s. Systems like the Andrew File System (AFS) and Network File System (NFS) laid the groundwork for distributing data across multiple locations.

Its widespread adoption was largely driven by Amazon with the launch of Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) in 2006. Amazon S3 provided a scalable, reliable, and affordable storage interface, becoming the benchmark for applications requiring large-scale data storage. Amazon S3 object storage also integrated with tools such as Amazon CloudWatch for S3 monitoring and IAM policies, paving the way for secure, scalable deployments. These AWS integrations and security features set the foundation for many enterprise architectures that followed.

Other providers, such as Google with Google Cloud Storage and Microsoft with Azure Blob Storage, have also contributed to object storage’s popularity by offering competing services, enriching the cloud storage ecosystem and expanding options for businesses and developers.

b) New players in the object storage market

Today, the object storage ecosystem has diversified significantly with the emergence of new players challenging the dominance of these giants. Newcomers like Leviia and Wasabi have energized the market by offering innovative solutions that rival traditional providers in quality and reliability while being significantly more affordable—sometimes up to four times cheaper.

These new providers have disrupted the perception of a monopolistic market by offering differentiated services, such as transparent pricing with no fees for requests or outbound data transfers and enhanced security models. They meet the growing demand for cost-effective storage solutions for managing massive data volumes while maintaining high standards of performance, availability, and compliance.

3 – Object storage: Ideal for Backups in a 3-2-1-1-0 Strategy

1) Extremely High Data Durability with Object Storage

Object storage is distinguished by its ability to ensure extremely high data durability, making it a preferred choice for IT professionals for long-term backups. In object storage, durability is often expressed as an annual percentage, with industry standards reaching 99.999999999% (11 nines), equivalent to near-zero data loss or an extremely low probability of loss.

This high durability is achieved through sophisticated mechanisms like multi-region replication and cross-region disaster recovery, which replicate data across multiple independent data centers. This strategy ensures resilience against catastrophic events that could affect a single location. Object storage also incorporates advanced practices like Erasure Coding, a data protection method that allows complete data reconstruction without loss, even if multiple disks or storage nodes fail simultaneously.

2) Protection Against Ransomware

Additionally, S3 object storage solutions often include integrated versioning capabilities, where multiple versions of an object can be retained. This protects against accidental deletions or modifications and serves as a defense against malicious alterations, such as ransomware attacks, by maintaining immutable copies of data. These versions can be easily restored, contributing directly to data durability by enabling recovery to a previous, unaffected state.

Many providers also support S3 lifecycle management policies to automate transitions between storage classes, archiving, or deletion based on rules and retention policies. These object lifecycle policies help organizations manage their retention obligations and reduce long-term storage costs.

These features make object storage ideal for a 3-2-1-1-0 backup strategy, where the first “1” refers to an offsite copy. While object storage is typically a connected solution, some configurations allow data isolation through mechanisms like S3 object lock or WORM (Write Once Read Many), providing additional protection. The convergence of these techniques gives businesses a robust foundation for backup and disaster recovery.

4 – Key Features and Capabilities of Object Storage

a) Scalability and Performance

One of the primary advantages of object storage is its virtually unlimited scalability. Objects can be stored without the size limitations inherent in traditional file systems. With multi-part upload APIs, even extremely large files can be stored and retrieved efficiently. Combined with S3 batch operations, this ensures performance at scale and supports the storage classes and pricing flexibility needed for enterprise workloads.

b) Immutability and Object-level Security

Some object storage solutions offer the ability to make objects immutable, meaning data cannot be modified once written. This is critical for backups, legal archives, and compliance, where data integrity must be guaranteed over long periods. Advanced solutions also support object-level encryption, ensuring each item is encrypted individually. Providers may also include server access logging and Amazon CloudWatch integration for enhanced traceability.

c) Interoperability and APIs

Standard object storage APIs, such as those compatible with S3, enable HTTP-compatible object storage for applications across platforms. These support integration with cloud-native applications, software distribution and hosting, and even direct SQL-like querying with S3 Select and filtering. Compatibility with tools like Veeam, Rubrik, and NAS systems ensures seamless integration in hybrid environments.

d) Access and Metadata Management

Modern solutions enable fine-grained IAM permissions, bucket policy management, and access point policies for datasets, ensuring secure access. Administrators can enforce user access control policies, tag data with rich metadata, and generate S3 Inventory reporting features to support storage management analytics. This also helps maintain a reliable data consistency model across large-scale deployments. Together, these data management features support enterprise-grade governance.

5 – The Cost of Object Storage

a) Highly Competitive Pricing

What is S3 object storage? This question cannot be fully addressed without discussing the financial aspect. The main advantage of object storage solutions is their flexible pricing, which adapts to users’ consumption. This pay-as-you-go structure allows for precise cost management. Businesses only pay for the storage space and data transfers they actually use, including read and write operations.

However, pricing differences between providers can be significant. Providers like Amazon S3 offer a wide range of services and options that, while flexible and powerful, can lead to substantial costs for businesses and public organizations. These costs may arise from data retrieval fees, outbound traffic charges, or fees for advanced data processing automation features.

Cold data can be transitioned to Glacier storage classes for long-term retention at minimal cost, while intelligent tiering storage classes dynamically optimize costs based on access frequency.

b) Leviia Object Storage: The Most Competitive Pricing

Leviia Storag3 positions itself as a competitive alternative, emphasizing not only its more affordable pricing—up to four times lower than Amazon’s—but also a transparent pricing structure with no hidden fees. 80% cheaper than Amazon S3, Leviia offers pricing simplicity that appeals to budget-conscious users. Additionally, as a 100% French solution, Leviia ensures strict compliance with EU data protection regulations, a compelling advantage for businesses prioritizing data security and sovereignty in their cloud storage strategies.

In summary, Leviia Object Storage stands out as a cost-effective storage solution, combining competitive pricing with rigorous regulatory compliance. This makes it a particularly suitable S3 storage option for businesses and public organizations looking to optimize costs while meeting stringent data protection standards.

6 – Object Storage: Public and Private Distribution

a) Public Distribution: Using a CDN with Object Storage

In object storage, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) is often used to accelerate public content distribution. This involves replicating stored objects across a network of strategically positioned servers worldwide. When a user requests an object, the CDN redirects the request to the nearest server, reducing response time. This approach supports software distribution, data lakes and analytics, and global content distribution networks.

This is particularly beneficial for static objects that make up the majority of web traffic, such as images, videos, and style files. Object storage combined with a CDN enables efficient scaling, capable of handling traffic spikes and improving user experience without compromising speed or availability.

b) Private Distribution: Security with Presigned URLs

For scenarios where confidentiality is critical, object storage allows the creation of presigned URLs. These URLs provide temporary access to a stored object and are signed with a secure access key, ensuring that only individuals with the presigned URL can access the object during the specified period.

This method is essential for securely sharing stored objects, such as personal documents, sensitive business data, or paid media. The presigned URL expires after a set time, offering control over the access period and protecting against unauthorized access.

S3-Compatible Object Storage: The Backbone of Scalable, Secure Data Infrastructure

What is S3 object storage? We hope to have answered this complex but crucial question, given that it represents a transformative data storage technology for managing information in the cloud. By breaking free from the constraints of traditional file and block storage systems, object storage offers massive scalability, intelligent data tiering, and enhanced flexibility, meeting the growing demands of a rapidly evolving digital economy.