What standards exist for Object Storage and what are they used for?

There are several standards for object storage that ensure interoperability and compatibility between different vendors and implementations of object storage systems. Here are some of the most important standards:

  1. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Simple Storage Service (S3) API: This is a REST-based API used for interoperability between various AWS services and for integrating third-party applications with AWS storage services.
  2. OpenStack Swift: OpenStack Swift is an open-source object storage system that is RESTful-API-based and designed for storing large amounts of unstructured data. It is optimized for integration with other OpenStack components and is used by many cloud providers as part of their infrastructure.
  3. Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI): CDMI is a standard interface for interacting with cloud storage systems developed by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). It aims to improve interoperability between different cloud storage systems and providers and enable data portability between different systems.
  4. T10 Object-Based Storage Device (OSD): T10 OSD is a standard for object storage developed by the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS). It defines a standardized interface for communication between applications and object storage systems and aims to improve interoperability between different systems and vendors.

These standards are used to ensure that object storage systems and applications are compatible with each other and that data can be seamlessly exchanged between different systems and vendors. They help improve the flexibility and portability of data in a rapidly evolving cloud and big data environment.