Block and Object Storage

Block Storage

Block storage divides data into fixed-size blocks, each with a unique identifier. The operating system treats block storage as raw, unformatted storage that can be mounted and formatted with any file system.

Characteristics: - Low-latency, high IOPS performance - Direct access to storage blocks - Ideal for databases, file systems, and boot volumes - Can be mounted as drives to servers - Supports various file systems (ext4, NTFS, etc.)

Examples: - Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) - Azure Disk Storage - Google Persistent Disks - Physical hard drives, SSDs

Object Storage

Object storage manages data as objects within containers (buckets). Each object contains the data, metadata, and a unique identifier. Data is accessed via REST APIs rather than traditional file system operations.

Characteristics: - Highly scalable and distributed - Accessed via HTTP/HTTPS APIs - Flat namespace structure - Built-in redundancy and durability - Ideal for unstructured data, backups, and web content - Metadata-rich storage

Examples: - Amazon S3 - Azure Blob Storage - Google Cloud Storage - MinIO (self-hosted)

FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace)

FUSE allows non-privileged users to create their own file systems without editing kernel code. It provides a bridge between user-space programs and the kernel's VFS (Virtual File System) interface.

How FUSE Works: - Runs filesystem code in user space rather than kernel space - Uses a kernel module to communicate between user-space filesystem and kernel - Allows mounting of various storage types as regular filesystems - Provides standard file operations (read, write, open, etc.)

Common FUSE-based Filesystems: - s3fs - Mount S3 buckets as filesystems - sshfs - Mount remote directories over SSH - encfs - Encrypted filesystem - ntfs-3g - NTFS support for Linux - curlftpfs - Mount FTP servers as filesystems

Usage in Linux

Block Storage in Linux

Mounting Block Storage:

# List available block devices
lsblk

# Check disk partitions
fdisk -l

# Create a partition on block device
sudo fdisk /dev/sdb

# Format with ext4 filesystem
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1

# Create mount point
sudo mkdir /mnt/myvolume

# Mount the block storage
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/myvolume

# Make mount permanent (add to /etc/fstab)
echo '/dev/sdb1 /mnt/myvolume ext4 defaults 0 2' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

# Check mounted filesystems
df -h

# Unmount when done
sudo umount /mnt/myvolume