What is it?
Object storage is a relatively new technology that differs fundamentally from traditional file storage. The most noticeable difference is that the storage is not mounted as a traversable directory, but is rather accessed through an API.
This makes object storage less suitable for general (human) use, but opens up possibilities for high availability and a range of other qualities that can be beneficial for applications.
Typical use cases include streaming services, IoT devices, backup, file transfers, etc.
Our provider is Cloudian, which offers nearly 100% compatibility with the AWS S3 standard.
For more technical details about object storage, we refer to their summary below.
Getting started
IT-employees can order object storage. It is recommended that other staff refer to the institutes IT-department for reviewing their needs, and eventually order storage.