📁 Storage Services - Provider Comparison

Overview

Object storage for files, backups, and media at unlimited scale with global access.

Quick Comparison

AWS S3

# Create bucket
aws s3 mb s3://my-bucket

# Upload file
aws s3 cp myfile.txt s3://my-bucket/

# List objects
aws s3 ls s3://my-bucket/

# Download
aws s3 cp s3://my-bucket/myfile.txt ./

Key Features:

• Unlimited scale

• 11 nines durability

• Multiple storage classes

• Cross-region replication

• Versioning and lifecycle

Pricing: $0.023/GB (standard)

GCP Cloud Storage

# Create bucket
gsutil mb gs://my-bucket

# Upload
gsutil cp myfile.txt gs://my-bucket/

# List
gsutil ls gs://my-bucket/

# Download
gsutil cp gs://my-bucket/myfile.txt ./

Key Features:

• Auto-scaling

• Lower cost for cold data

• Nearline/Coldline tiers

• Integrated with GCP services

• Multi-region buckets

Pricing: $0.020/GB (standard)

Azure Blob Storage

# Create container
az storage container create --name mycontainer

# Upload blob
az storage blob upload --file myfile.txt --container mycontainer --name myfile.txt

# List
az storage blob list --container mycontainer

# Download
az storage blob download --file myfile.txt --container mycontainer --name myfile.txt

Key Features:

• Hot/Cool/Archive tiers

• Auto-tiering

• Soft delete

• Blob snapshots

• Lifecycle management

Pricing: $0.0184/GB (hot), $0.01/GB (cool)

Firebase Storage

const bucket = admin.storage().bucket();

// Upload
await bucket.upload('myfile.txt', {
  destination: 'uploads/myfile.txt'
});

// Download
await bucket.file('uploads/myfile.txt').download({destination: './myfile.txt'});

// Delete
await bucket.file('uploads/myfile.txt').delete();

Key Features:

• Firebase Rules integration

• Real-time monitoring

• SDK built-in

• CDN automatic

• Free tier 5GB

Storage Classes/Tiers

AWS S3 Classes

• **Standard:** $0.023/GB (frequent access)

• **Intelligent-Tiering:** $0.0125/GB (automatic)

• **Glacier:** $0.004/GB (archive, slow)

GCP Classes

• **Standard:** $0.020/GB (frequent)

• **Nearline:** $0.010/GB (monthly access)

• **Coldline:** $0.004/GB (quarterly)

• **Archive:** $0.0012/GB (yearly)

Azure Tiers

• **Hot:** $0.0184/GB (frequent)

• **Cool:** $0.01/GB (infrequent)

• **Archive:** $0.002/GB (rare)

Pricing Examples

Key Takeaways

• **S3 most popular** and mature

• **GCP cheapest** for standard storage

• **Azure best pricing** for business

• **Firebase easiest** for Firebase apps

• **Pricing similar** (all within $5-10)

• **Cold tier crucial** for backups

• **CDN essential** for performance

• **Multi-region mandatory** for backups