Object Versioning is a crucial feature in object storage systems, offering robust data protection against accidental or malicious actions such as object updates, overwrites, or deletions. In this article, we’ll delve into the intricacies of Object Versioning, its benefits, and how it interacts with various aspects of object storage.
Introduction to Object Versioning
Object Versioning operates at the bucket level, ensuring that every time a new object is uploaded, an existing object is overwritten, or an object is deleted, a new version is automatically created. This provides a safety net against data loss or corruption.
Key Concepts of Object Versioning
- Automatic Versioning: Upon object upload, overwrite, or deletion, object storage automatically generates a new version. There’s always one latest version of the object alongside zero or more previous versions.
- Charges for Versions: Users are billed for both the latest object version and any previous versions retained. However, previous versions are kept until explicitly deleted by the user.
Object Versioning Status
- Disabled: Objects uploaded with the same name as existing ones are overwritten without retaining the overwritten object. Deletions are permanent and irreversible.
- Enabled: Uploading an object with an existing name creates a new version, making the existing one a previous version. Deleted objects are retained, each assigned a unique version identifier.
- Suspended: Behaves like a disabled bucket, where uploads and deletions overwrite or permanently remove objects, respectively. However, existing versions are retained unless explicitly deleted.
Interaction with Object Storage Features
- Bucket Re-encryption: Existing versions are re-encrypted if bucket re-encryption is performed.
- Lifecycle Policies: These can archive both latest and previous versions of objects. Deleting the latest version creates a previous version with a delete marker, while deleting a previous version is permanent.
- Copy Object Functionality: Only the selected version is copied, not previous versions.
- Replication: Replication doesn’t replicate previous object versions, and versioning can’t be enabled on replication destination buckets, which are read-only.
- Retention Rules: Versioning can’t be enabled on buckets with active retention rules.
Conclusion
Object Versioning is a vital feature ensuring data integrity and protection in object storage environments. By understanding its functionalities and interactions, users can optimize data management strategies and enhance data resilience effectively.