Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ceph VS Amazon S3

Compare Ceph VS Amazon S3 and see what are their differences

Ceph logo Ceph

Ceph is a distributed object store and file system designed to provide excellent performance...

Amazon S3 logo Amazon S3

Amazon S3 is an object storage where users can store data from their business on a safe, cloud-based platform. Amazon S3 operates in 54 availability zones within 18 graphic regions and 1 local region.
  • Ceph Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-16
  • Amazon S3 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-11-01

Amazon S3 (Amazon Simple Storage Service) is the storage platform by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that provides an object storage with high availability, low latency and high durability. S3 can store any type of object and can serve as storage for internet applications, backups, disaster recovery, data archives, big data sets and multimedia.

Ceph features and specs

  • Scalability
    Ceph is designed to scale horizontally by adding more nodes. This allows for seamless expansion of storage capacity as needs grow.
  • High Availability
    Ceph provides high availability and fault tolerance through its distributed architecture and data replication methods, ensuring data is always accessible.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, Ceph has a large community of developers and users which help in rapid identification and rectification of issues. It also offers lower cost of ownership compared to proprietary solutions.
  • Versatility
    Ceph supports block storage, object storage, and file systems within the same cluster, providing great flexibility and reducing the need for multiple storage solutions.
  • Performance
    Ceph delivers high performance, particularly for large-scale deployments, by balancing loads and efficiently distributing data.

Possible disadvantages of Ceph

  • Complexity
    Setting up and maintaining a Ceph cluster can be complex and requires skilled administrators, which might not be suitable for smaller organizations.
  • Resource Intensive
    Ceph can be resource-heavy, demanding significant CPU, memory, and network resources, which can be a limitation for smaller setups.
  • Documentation
    Despite a rich set of features, Ceph’s documentation can sometimes be lacking or difficult for new users to comprehend, potentially leading to longer learning curves.
  • Hardware Requirements
    Ceph typically requires high-quality, enterprise-grade hardware to achieve optimal performance and reliability, which can entail a higher upfront investment.
  • Operational Overhead
    Day-to-day management, monitoring, and troubleshooting of Ceph clusters require a specialized skill set, leading to possible increases in operational overhead.

Amazon S3 features and specs

  • Scalability
    Amazon S3 automatically scales storage resources to meet user demands, enabling businesses to store a virtually unlimited amount of data without worrying about capacity constraints.
  • Durability
    Amazon S3 is designed for 99.999999999% (11 9's) durability, ensuring that your data is highly protected against loss and corruption.
  • Security
    Amazon S3 offers robust security features, including encryption at rest and in transit, fine-grained access controls, and integration with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM).
  • Integrations
    Amazon S3 integrates seamlessly with other AWS services such as EC2, Lambda, and RDS, as well as third-party applications, facilitating a cohesive cloud environment.
  • Cost-Effectiveness
    Amazon S3 offers a range of storage classes, allowing users to optimize costs based on their access patterns, from frequently accessed data to long-term archival storage.
  • Global Availability
    Amazon S3 is available in multiple regions worldwide, providing low latency and high availability for users around the globe.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon S3

  • Complexity
    The wide array of features and configurations in Amazon S3 can be overwhelming for beginners, requiring a steep learning curve and careful planning.
  • Cost Predictability
    Although cost-effective, the pricing model of Amazon S3 can be complex due to various factors such as storage volume, data transfer rates, and request frequency, leading to unpredictable costs if not monitored closely.
  • Performance Variation
    While generally offering high performance, the speed of data retrieval from Amazon S3 can vary based on factors like object size, storage class, and region, potentially affecting time-sensitive applications.
  • Limited Migration Tools
    Although Amazon provides data migration services, some users find the migration tools and processes cumbersome, especially when moving large volumes of data from other storage solutions.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Relying heavily on Amazon S3 and other AWS services can make it difficult to switch providers or develop a multi-cloud strategy, leading to potential vendor lock-in concerns.

Ceph videos

UDS 2013-03: Ceph Review - Part 1/2

More videos:

  • Review - Designing for High Performance Ceph at Scale
  • Review - RHCS 4 Cockpit Ceph Installer

Amazon S3 videos

Introduction to Amazon S3

More videos:

  • Review - Getting Started with Amazon S3 - AWS Online Tech Talks
  • Review - Amazon S3 Review: Amazon S3
  • Review - Amazon S3 Glacier Cloud Storage: What You Need to Know
  • Review - Wasabi vs. Amazon S3

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ceph and Amazon S3)
Cloud Storage
57 57%
43% 43
Cloud Hosting
0 0%
100% 100
Cloud Computing
34 34%
66% 66
Storage
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Ceph and Amazon S3

Ceph Reviews

Simplyblock as alternative to Ceph: A Comprehensive Comparison
Ceph utilizes its own storage driver (rbd) that is integrated into the Linux Kernel and can also be used on other platforms as a third-party driver. It enables seamless connectivity between hosts and the Ceph cluster. In addition to OpenStack, Ceph offers deep integrations with Kubernetes through a separate CSI driver, as well as other platforms.
Best & Cheapest Object Storage Providers With S-3 Support
The libraries of Ceph support applications built in Java, C, C++, PHP, Python, and other languages. It also gives these apps access to its object storage platform via a native API.
Source: macpost.net
What are the alternatives to S3?
Ceph is a software-defined storage platform that implements object storage. Its interface is built with the same storage system that provides the librados interface, making it have the same abilities as librados like read-only snapshot and revert to snapshot. The software delivers Object, File, and Block storage in a single, unified system. Ceph is S3 compatible, and its...
Source: www.w6d.io
Ceph Storage Platform Alternatives in 2022
Open-Source software platforms are not free but you can use them as community edition or with limited features. The above storage platforms have same goals but also have some different abilities and capabilities, so choosing or using them is depended to your requirements and budget. About Ceph, I think that Ceph is still the best and there is no limitation for community...
15 FreeNAS Alternatives 2020 | Best Storage Operating System
PetaSAN is a Ceph-based iSCSI cluster, open-source FreeNAS alternative, known widely for its end-to-end integrated solution and scale-out SAN arrangement that offers impressive adaptability and execution. Its latest cloud storage technology makes it corporate-efficient to manage large data storage in one unit; run on the Linux operating system, the program has many nodes...

Amazon S3 Reviews

Top 7 Firebase Alternatives for App Development in 2024
Amazon S3 is suitable for applications of any size requiring reliable and scalable storage.
Source: signoz.io
Best Top 12 MEGA Alternatives in 2024
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is an object storage service with industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. The service is particularly suitable for enterprise users to manage collect, store, protect, back-up, retrieve, and analyze data.
7 Best Amazon S3 Alternatives & Competitors in 2024
Amazon S3 is short for Amazon Simple Storage Service, a popular web hosting company among developers that also offers object storage service.
Top 10 Netlify Alternatives
Amazon S3 is referred to as Amazon Simple Storage Service. It is basically a cloud storage service that was initially released in 2006. This product of Amazon Web Services (AWS) handles big data analytics, provides online data backups and helps in web-scale computing.
What are the alternatives to S3?
Sometimes Amazon S3 might not be serving you as you need and need some features or want to move out of the big 3 providers due to charges of which you’re not using much of their services. There are many alternatives to object storage that you can use at a far lower cost than what you pay on Amazon S3. And storing data traditionally can become complicated sometimes, whereby...
Source: www.w6d.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Amazon S3 seems to be a lot more popular than Ceph. While we know about 185 links to Amazon S3, we've tracked only 11 mentions of Ceph. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Ceph mentions (11)

  • 10 open source tools that platform, SRE and DevOps engineers should consider in 2024.
    Ceph stands out in storage technology, offering a scalable and reliable solution where traditional systems fall short. It supports object, block, and file storage in one system, adaptable for various environments including on-premises, cloud, or container-native setups. Key benefits include scalability, enabled by the CRUSH algorithm, allowing for expansion without typical downtime. This makes Ceph suitable for... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • iSCSI over WAN / backup of remote site
    With that being said, you better take a look at something more WAN optimized and more secure, like S3 storage. You can build the S3 storage (and gain immutability) using something like MinIO (https://min.io/) or Ceph (https://ceph.io/en/) or check out Object First Ootbi offerings - https://objectfirst.com/object-storage/ (I work for them). Source: over 1 year ago
  • What's the best AWS S3 protocol alternative?
    I believe Ceph [1] could be a good alternative. It can be self hosted and I believe some cloud providers also offer it. Here are some differences between S3 and Ceph [2]. [1] - https://ceph.io/en/ [2] - https://www.lightbitslabs.com/blog/ceph-storage/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Seeking Advice & Opinions: Hybrid NAS/Cloud Storage for Family Use
    Another option is a distributed Ceph cluster https://ceph.io/en/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • First Time NAS buyer for Digital Textile Printing Factory
    There's also cool systems like https://ceph.io/en/ that could be efficient if willing to set up and learn. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Amazon S3 mentions (185)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ceph and Amazon S3, you can also consider the following products

Minio - Minio is an open-source minimal cloud storage server.

AWS Lambda - Automatic, event-driven compute service

GlusterFS - GlusterFS is a scale-out network-attached storage file system.

Google Cloud Storage - Google Cloud Storage offers developers and IT organizations durable and highly available object storage.

StorPool - StorPool is designed from the ground up to provide cloud builders, shared hosting providers and MSPs with the most resource efficient storage software on the market.

Amazon AWS - Amazon Web Services offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services. Free to join, pay only for what you use.