Glossary · Cloud & Hosting

Object Storage

Object storage stores data as objects with metadata in flat buckets and is accessed through an HTTP API, suited to files, media and backups.

Updated October 6, 2026

Object storage is a storage architecture that keeps data as discrete objects, each with an identifier and metadata, in flat containers called buckets, accessed over an HTTP API rather than as a mounted file system.

Why it matters

It scales to enormous amounts of data at low cost and is highly durable, which suits images, videos, logs, backups and static website assets. Objects are typically written whole, not edited in place.

It is not meant for workloads needing fast small random writes, such as a running database, where block storage is a better match.

Example

PUT /my-bucket/images/logo.png HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: image/png

The object key is images/logo.png. The slashes are only part of the name; the bucket has no real folders.

Common mistakes

  • Making a bucket public by accident and exposing private files.
  • Using object storage as a database or a file system with frequent in-place edits.
  • Ignoring request and data-transfer fees when estimating cost.

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