Storage: Files, Volumes & the Cloud
Where data lives when the power is off
Where data lives when the power is off
Different storage types serve different needs. Click each type to see how it works and when to use it.
A file system organizes data into directories and files, like folders on your desktop. Click folders to navigate, see file sizes, and understand the hierarchy.
Real infrastructure combines multiple storage types for different purposes.
Databases need fast, reliable block storage (SSD). A busy database might read/write thousands of times per second. Latency matters here more than capacity.
Images, videos, and downloads go to object storage. It is cheap, scales infinitely, and serves files via URL. Instagram stores billions of photos in object storage.
Server logs and database backups need cheap bulk storage. Write once, read rarely. Compressed and archived to save space. Critical for debugging and recovery.
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) stores over 100 trillion objects. It is designed for 99.999999999% durability (11 nines). That means if you store 10 million objects, you can expect to lose one every 10,000 years.
You've learned how servers store data persistently: local disks for speed, block volumes for flexibility, and object storage for scale. Every photo, video, and database lives on one of these storage types.
RAM loses everything when power is off. That is why servers need persistent storage: SSDs and hard drives that keep data even without electricity.
A block volume is a virtual hard drive you attach to a server. It has a fixed size, a file system, and can be detached and reattached to different servers.
Object storage (like S3) stores files as objects with metadata. No file system, no size limit, accessed via URLs. Perfect for images, videos, and backups.
Storage can fail. RAID mirrors data across multiple disks. Snapshots capture a point-in-time copy. Off-site backups protect against physical disasters.
Put your new knowledge into practice!