File Storage overview
KakaoCloud File Storage is a shared file system service that supports SMB and NFS protocols. Multiple servers and applications can access the same file system at the same time, so shared data can be stored centrally and managed consistently.
KakaoCloud File Storage and Object Storage differ in how they store data and in their intended use cases.
- File Storage: Provides a shared file system that preserves file and directory structures and allows multiple users to read and write data. It is suitable for file sharing between servers, collaborative storage, and shared application data.
- Object Storage: Stores data as objects and is suitable for storing and distributing large-scale unstructured data. It does not provide a mountable file system or collaborative file sharing environment.
Purpose and use cases
When files and data are distributed across personal or team local environments, backup, operations, and access control become complex, and maintaining data consistency becomes difficult. In environments where multiple servers must use the same data, file replication and synchronization can also increase operational overhead.
With File Storage, you can store shared data in one file system and share the same data across multiple servers or applications. You can centrally manage data storage, migration, backup, and collaborative workloads, and apply it flexibly to file-based workloads.
Common use cases include:
- Sharing common data across multiple Virtual Machines or applications
- File storage for collaboration-based services
- File-based data storage for content, logs, and analytics data
- Shared volume configuration for Kubernetes Engine workloads
Features by type
File Storage provides two file system types depending on the use case.
- Infinite file system: Suitable when you need a scalable shared file system and usage-based billing.
- Basic file system: Suitable when you need to operate an NFS-based file system within preconfigured capacity.
The characteristics of each File Storage type are as follows.
Infinite file system
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Storage capacity | Provided as a structure that can scale without a fixed capacity limit |
| Billing method | Charged based on actual used capacity |
| Protocol support | Supports SMB and NFS protocols |
| Sharing structure | Supports multiple shared volumes in one file system |
| Access control | Supports SMB account-based access control and NFS IP-based access control |
| OS support | Can be mounted from various environments, including Windows, Linux, and macOS |
| Monitoring | Provides key metrics such as capacity usage, connection count, and network throughput |
Basic file system
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Storage capacity | Operates based on preconfigured capacity, up to 16 TiB |
| Protocol support | Supports NFS protocol |
| Management interface | Provides file system status, creation date, network information, and other information in the console |
| Integrated environments | Can connect to Virtual Machine and Kubernetes Engine in the same network environment |
| Data protection | Supports full and incremental backup and restore |
| Cost efficiency | Reduces physical storage operating costs by creating only the required capacity |
Getting started
For how to use File Storage, see How-to Guides. If you are new to KakaoCloud, see Getting started first.