This topic describes the primary use cases for Object Storage Service (OSS).
Mass storage for image, audio, and video applications
You can use OSS to store large amounts of files, such as images, audio, videos, and logs. Various endpoint devices, web applications, and mobile applications can directly write data to and read data from OSS. OSS supports writing data through streams and file uploads.
Separation of static and dynamic resources for web or mobile applications
OSS uses the high bandwidth of the Internet to enable concurrent downloads of large amounts of data. OSS provides a native transfer acceleration feature that supports accelerated uploads and downloads. This improves the user experience for cross-border and long-distance data transfers. You can also use OSS with CDN to provide a solution for storing static content and distributing it to edge nodes. Caching data on CDN edge nodes improves download performance for users in the same region who frequently and concurrently access the same file. For more information, see Accelerate access to OSS using CDN.
Data processing in the cloud
After you upload files to OSS, you can use services such as Intelligent Media Management and Image Processing to process your data. For more information, see Image Processing and ApsaraVideo Media Processing.
Configuration audit archiving
To fully monitor your cloud resources, you can use the CloudConfig service to efficiently collect and store scheduled snapshots and configuration history. These resources include but are not limited to Elastic Compute Service (ECS), virtual private cloud (VPC), and ApsaraDB RDS. You can then deliver the data to a specified OSS bucket. If a single file delivered by CloudConfig to Simple Message Queue (SMQ) exceeds 64 KB, or a file delivered to Simple Log Service (SLS) exceeds 1 MB, you must deliver the oversized file to a specified OSS bucket. This prevents data loss and lets you use the mass storage capacity and low cost of OSS to store detailed audit information. For more information, see Delivery.
Operation audit archiving
You can use the trail feature of ActionTrail to record and audit user operations on cloud resources. You can create a trail to deliver events to a specified OSS bucket for long-term storage. This supports scenarios such as security monitoring, compliance audits, resource change management, and fault diagnosis and O&M. For more information, see Create a single-account trail.
Persistent storage for computing results
OSS with BatchCompute
BatchCompute is a high-performance cloud service designed for large-scale parallel batch jobs. It lets you easily manage and run concurrent jobs with tens of thousands of tasks. Simply upload your computing jobs to BatchCompute. The system then intelligently runs these jobs in parallel on multiple virtual machine instances of Alibaba Cloud. After processing, the computing results are saved directly in OSS. As a persistent cloud storage solution, OSS securely and reliably stores large amounts of raw data or intermediate computing results. Its high scalability and real-time access features ensure that data is always available.
OSS with E-HPC and other cloud products
As a cloud-native distributed storage service, OSS provides robust support for various types of data and applications. OSS plays a key role in Elastic High Performance Computing (E-HPC) scenarios because of the high requirements for data management and storage. E-HPC builds on-demand, scalable high-performance computing clusters that include compute nodes and GPU nodes. These clusters are designed for compute-intensive tasks such as physical simulations, climate model building, genomics research, and large-scale machine learning training. These tasks generate and consume large amounts of data. OSS uses its distributed storage advantages to not only store unstructured information such as raw data and computing results, but also to support the import of job data and executable files. This ensures efficient data access and management.
ECS instances are the core of the computing resources. They run diverse application services and support the compute nodes of the E-HPC cluster. Using elastic IP addresses (EIPs), you can assign a static public IP address to each ECS instance to ensure stable service accessibility. To build a secure and efficient environment, you can create a virtual private cloud (VPC) to establish an independent and secure network space for instances, including ECS and E-HPC. This enhances resource isolation and protection.
In addition, NAS enhances the cluster's data sharing capabilities. As a centralized file storage service, NAS allows all compute nodes to seamlessly access shared files, which promotes data collaboration and exchange among teams.
In summary, OSS, combined with E-HPC and other cloud products, creates a highly flexible, efficient, and secure cloud computing ecosystem. This ecosystem meets various needs, from data storage and resource scheduling to network construction and data sharing.
Image storage and distribution
WUYING Workspace is a cloud-based virtual computer service that allows users to remotely access and use a configured virtual desktop environment over the Internet. As a highly available and durable object storage service, OSS can securely and reliably store your WUYING Workspace images. You can upload images to OSS as a backup method to prevent image loss from unexpected events and ensure business continuity. This also allows other users or team members to easily share images and quickly deploy new WUYING Workspace instances from them. This improves work efficiency and maintains a consistent environment.
Screen recording audit archiving
WUYING Workspace supports a screen recording audit feature. This feature lets you record and monitor how applications or users use the cloud desktop, ensuring data security and compliance. After you configure a control policy for screen recording audits, the generated recording files are automatically transferred to a specified OSS bucket. This provides immediate backup and secure storage for audit records. It also simplifies the process of reviewing, analyzing, and auditing the files later, which improves management efficiency and data security.
