Which storage option is commonly used to provide block, file, and object storage in distributed systems?

Which storage option is commonly used to provide block, file, and object storage in distributed systems?

• A. NFS
• B. GlusterFS
• C. Ceph
• D. Local storage

Answer: (C)

Ceph is designed as a single distributed storage system that exposes three interfaces: block storage through RADOS Block Device, file storage through CephFS, and object storage through the RADOS Gateway (S3/Swift-compatible). Its foundation, RADOS, distributes data across many OSDs with CRUSH-based placement, enabling seamless scaling, fault tolerance, and self-healing. This combination lets a distributed system offer block, file, and object storage from one backend as you grow. NFS provides only a file-sharing interface and doesn’t deliver block or object storage natively. GlusterFS focuses on scalable file storage and isn’t built to provide native object storage. Local storage is per-node and lacks distributed redundancy. So Ceph best meets the requirement of providing all three storage types in a distributed environment.

Ceph is designed as a single distributed storage system that exposes three interfaces: block storage through RADOS Block Device, file storage through CephFS, and object storage through the RADOS Gateway (S3/Swift-compatible). Its foundation, RADOS, distributes data across many OSDs with CRUSH-based placement, enabling seamless scaling, fault tolerance, and self-healing. This combination lets a distributed system offer block, file, and object storage from one backend as you grow. NFS provides only a file-sharing interface and doesn’t deliver block or object storage natively. GlusterFS focuses on scalable file storage and isn’t built to provide native object storage. Local storage is per-node and lacks distributed redundancy. So Ceph best meets the requirement of providing all three storage types in a distributed environment.