IBM Cloud Object Storage is a service offered by
IBM for storing and accessing unstructured data. The
object storage
Object storage (also known as object-based storage) is a computer data storage that manages data as objects, as opposed to other storage architectures like file systems which manages data as a file hierarchy, and block storage which manages data a ...
service can be deployed
on-premise, as part of
IBM Cloud Platform offerings, or in hybrid form. The offering can store any type of object which allows for uses like data archiving and backup, web and mobile applications, and as scalable, persistent storage for analytics. Interaction with Cloud Object Storage is based on Rest APIs.
Design
IBM Cloud Object Storage stores objects that are organized into buckets (as S3 does) identified within each bucket by a unique, user-assigned key. All requests are authorized using an access control list associated with each bucket and object. Bucket names and keys are chosen so that objects are addressable using HTTP URLs.
Features
IBM Cloud Object Storage offers different storage classes, identical in data protection, security, durability and resiliency. The classes differ in data pattern and availability needs.
History
The offering was originally introduced by
Cleversafe Inc., a company based in Chicago, Illinois. Cleversafe sold an
object storage
Object storage (also known as object-based storage) is a computer data storage that manages data as objects, as opposed to other storage architectures like file systems which manages data as a file hierarchy, and block storage which manages data a ...
system, which it calls the Dispersed Storage Network or dsNet. Cleversafe was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 2004 by
S. Christopher Gladwin and was originally based in
IIT's
technology incubator
Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture cap ...
. The company has stated that it provides "limitless data storage". The company had 116 patents issued to it in 2014.
IBM announced the completion of its acquisition of Cleversafe on November 6, 2015 and has since rebranded the company's products as IBM Cloud Object Storage.
References
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External links
Official website
Computer storage companies
IBM acquisitions
2015 mergers and acquisitions
Software companies of the United States