Basic Concepts¶
Object Storage S3 is different from a traditional network drive, SMB/NFS share, or regular filesystem.
Below are the most important concepts you need to use Cloud4You Object Storage S3.
Bucket¶
A bucket is the primary container for data.
It can be compared to a top-level directory, but technically it is not a traditional folder.
Example bucket names:
Every object must be stored in a specific bucket.
Example:
Objects inside it may include:
Object¶
An object is a single item stored in a bucket.
It is most commonly a file, for example:
An object consists mainly of:
- data,
- a name called the Object Key,
- metadata.
Object Key¶
An Object Key is the name that identifies an object inside a bucket.
Example:
The / characters may look like directories, but in S3 they are part of the object name.
For example:
does not represent a traditional directory structure like a filesystem.
Client applications may still present it as:
Endpoint¶
An endpoint is the address at which the S3 service is available.
Main Cloud4You endpoint:
This is the address you configure in an application, S3 client, or tool such as AWS CLI.
Region¶
A region identifies the location or logical area of the service.
Cloud4You Object Storage S3 uses:
Some applications require a region even when using a custom S3 endpoint.
If the application asks for a region, enter:
Access Key¶
The Access Key identifies an S3 user.
You can think of it as similar to a username.
Example:
The Access Key is used together with the Secret Key.
Secret Key¶
The Secret Key is a private key used to sign requests sent to the S3 service.
You can think of it as similar to a password.
The Secret Key is confidential
Do not publish the Secret Key.
Anyone who has both the Access Key and Secret Key can perform operations according to the permissions assigned to that user.
Quota¶
A quota defines the maximum amount of data an account can store.
Example:
If a user has multiple buckets, they may share the storage pool assigned to that user.
Example:
Account limit: 1 TB
bucket-a: 300 GB
bucket-b: 200 GB
bucket-c: 100 GB
Total usage: 600 GB
Remaining: 400 GB
Bucket count limit¶
An account may have a limit on the number of buckets it can create.
Example:
After the limit is reached, another bucket cannot be created until the service parameters are changed.
Tenant¶
A tenant is the customer's logical namespace within the service.
It separates resources belonging to different customers or logical environments.
Depending on the service configuration, a user and their buckets can be associated with a specific tenant.
Versioning¶
Versioning allows multiple versions of the same object to be stored in a bucket.
Example:
This can help protect against accidental overwrites or deletions.
Versioning does not replace a backup.
Delete Marker¶
A Delete Marker is a special entry created when an object is deleted from a bucket with versioning enabled.
The object may disappear from the normal view while its older versions still exist.
Example:
Metadata¶
Metadata is additional information associated with an object.
Examples include:
Applications may also store custom metadata.
S3 and a traditional filesystem¶
S3 should not be treated as a traditional disk.
A traditional filesystem has:
S3 uses:
What looks like a directory:
is usually only a prefix in the object key.
This distinction matters for applications that expect a traditional filesystem.
Summary¶
The most important concepts are: