Z3 · Data & Storage

Object storage

Name: CloudPatterns.app
Author: CloudPatterns

Gold

Object storage keeps files such as photos and videos as whole objects behind an HTTP API, so app servers stay stateless and the files outlive any one server.

Use when: User uploads — photos, videos, documents · Static files and backups
Avoid when: Small structured records you filter and join — that's the database's job
Trade-offs: Storing and delivering files costs money too — weigh it against the compute it saves · Files clients fetch directly need access rules — short-lived signed URLs for private ones
Requires: Horizontal scaling with a stateless tier

3 objectives · 5 misconceptions

choose Choose object storage over the database or a server's local disk for user-uploaded files.
explain Explain why uploads saved on one web server's disk break a horizontally scaled tier.
predict Predict the load on the app servers when clients fetch files straight from storage instead of through the app.

Not true: Photos and videos belong in the database like any other data.
Not true: Saving uploads on the web server's own disk still works once there are several servers.
Not true: Every file download has to pass through the app servers.
Not true: Object storage behaves like a normal file system — you can append to a file or edit it in place.
Not true: Object storage costs nothing to read from, so request and transfer volume don't matter.

Learn

Object storage for user filesMembers~10 min

Practice

Pixel goes viralMembershard

Check

Station test-out80% to pass

Neighborhood

builds onHorizontal scaling with a stateless tier

→Object storage→

unlocksCDN (content delivery network)

On linesScale Line