A group of scholars from the University of California and Stanford University have published an engaging paper titled Amazon S3 for Scientific Grids: Is It a Practical Solution? In this study, the authors delve into the functionalities of Amazon S3, emphasizing its fundamental principles, security architecture, and data access methods. They categorize scientific storage grids based on their data usage patterns and storage needs before benchmarking S3 against criteria such as data durability, availability, access speed, and file downloads through BitTorrent. This foundational analysis allows them to assess S3’s cost-effectiveness, performance, and security measures.
The authors conclude that many scientific grid applications do not require all three of S3’s most sought-after features—high durability, high availability, and rapid access. They also provide intriguing suggestions for enhancing security functionalities and easing certain constraints.
Additionally, I have a brief update regarding the information presented in the paper! Since its publication, we’ve reported that S3 is now managing 5 billion objects, a significant increase from the 800 million mentioned in section II.
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— Alex
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