What is Bucket?

Summary

A bucket is a storage container used in cloud systems to store and organize data such as files, images, videos, backups, and logs. Buckets are commonly used in object storage services and are designed to scale easily as data grows.

Understanding Buckets

A bucket acts like a top level folder in the cloud. Inside a bucket, you store objects, which can be files of any type and size. Each object usually includes the data itself, a unique name, and metadata.

Buckets are a core concept in object storage platforms like Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Azure Blob Storage.

Simple Example

Imagine a bucket as a large digital warehouse.

• The warehouse is the bucket
• The shelves and boxes inside are the objects
• Labels on the boxes are object names and metadata

For example, a company might have:

• A bucket for user profile images
• A bucket for application logs
• A bucket for backups

What Buckets Are Used For

Data Storage

• Storing images, videos, and documents
• Holding application backups
• Saving logs and analytics data

Data Sharing and Access

• Serving static website content
• Sharing files between systems
• Controlling access with permissions and policies

Key Characteristics of Buckets

1. Scalability

Buckets can store a small number of files or billions of objects without needing manual scaling.

2. Durability and Availability

Cloud providers replicate bucket data across multiple systems to protect against data loss.

3. Security Controls

Buckets support access policies, encryption, and audit logging to protect data.

Common Bucket Providers

Amazon S3

A widely used cloud storage service known for high reliability and scalability. Commonly used for application data, backups, and large data sets.

Google Cloud Storage

A fast and globally available storage service often used for data analytics, machine learning, and media storage.

Azure Blob Storage

Microsoft’s object storage service, commonly used by organizations running workloads on Azure or using Microsoft tools.

MinIO

An open source, self hosted object storage system compatible with Amazon S3, often used in private, hybrid, or restricted environments.

In Short

A bucket is a flexible and scalable cloud storage container used to store and manage large amounts of data reliably and securely.