42. Object Storage Explained | AWS S3, Cloud Storage & System Design
Object storage powers modern cloud platforms like AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Azure Blob Storage.
If you’ve ever uploaded a photo, video, backup, or document to the cloud — object storage was working behind the scenes.
In this video, we explain object storage from scratch, how it differs from file and block storage, and why it’s the backbone of scalable cloud architectures.
This is a practical, system design–focused explanation used by real-world companies like Netflix, Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube.
What you’ll learn in this video:
What object storage is and how it works
File storage vs block storage vs object storage
Anatomy of an object (data, metadata, object key)
Flat namespace and why it scales infinitely
Buckets, metadata, and object keys explained
How S3-compatible APIs work (PUT, GET, DELETE)
AWS S3 deep dive and key features
Google Cloud Storage and Azure Blob overview
MinIO and open-source object storage
Common use cases: backups, media, data lakes, ML
Object storage trade-offs and limitations
Latency, egress costs, and consistency concerns
Best practices for key design, security, and cost
Real-world architecture example (Instagram-style app)
Who this video is for:
Backend developers
Cloud engineers
System design interview candidates
SDE-1, SDE-2, and senior engineers
Anyone learning cloud infrastructure
Object storage trades low latency for massive scalability, durability, and simplicity — understanding this trade-off is critical for modern system design.
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