IBM Cloud Object Storage (COS) is a cloud-based object storage service offered by IBM Cloud. It provides highly scalable, secure, and cost-effective storage for unstructured data, supporting workloads such as backup, disaster recovery, big data analytics, and cloud-native application development.
Built for high durability, global availability, and elastic scalability, IBM COS enables organizations to store virtually unlimited data with access via RESTful APIs and SDKs. It integrates seamlessly with IBM Cloud services for AI, analytics, and container orchestration.[1]
Features
Elastic Scalability: Scales from terabytes to exabytes without disruption.
Durability & Resilience: Employs erasure coding and geo-dispersal, offering up to 14 nines of durability and 5 nines of availability.[2]
Security: Supports encryption at rest and in transit, IAM, and compliance certifications.
Cost Optimization: Offers multiple storage classes—including Standard, Vault, Cold Vault, and Flex—plus a Smart Tier that automatically adjusts pricing based on usage.
Technical Details
History
IBM COS was built on technology acquired from Cleversafe in 2015, integrating dispersed storage architecture into the IBM Cloud platform.[3]
Architecture
IBM COS uses a dispersed storage architecture with erasure coding. Data objects are divided into slices and distributed across multiple nodes and locations. This ensures high durability, eliminates single points of failure, and enables global data resilience.
Storage Classes
One-Rate: One flat, all-inclusive rate designed for hot workloads such as AI, cloud native and media content storage.
Standard: Designed for frequently accessed data.
Vault: Lower-cost storage for less frequently accessed data.
Cold Vault: Archival tier with minimal retrieval requirements.
Smart Tier: Automatically adjusts between hot, cool, and cold rates based on usage, with no extra retrieval or minimum duration charges.[4]
File Size Limits
Maximum object size: Up to 10 TB, with multipart upload support for efficient large-file handling.[5]
Scale
Designed to support exabyte-scale storage, IBM COS handles billions of objects across distributed environments, enabling seamless horizontal scaling.[6]
Cyber Data Protection
IBM COS is designed as a “cyber vault” to protect against ransomware, malware, insider threats, and data corruption.
Isolated backup storage: Offsite, immutable storage prevents attackers from deleting or encrypting backups.[7]
Integrated with IBM Storage Defender Data Protect, offering AI-driven threat detection, anomaly monitoring, and centralized resilience management.[8]
Supports immutable buckets and object versioning/lifecycle policies to ensure data remains undeletable or unalterable during retention periods.[9]
Works with ecosystem partners like Veeam, Commvault, NetBackup, Rubrik, enabling secure backup and recovery via COS.[10]
Compliance and Certifications
IBM COS participates in a wide range of security and regulatory compliance programs:
ISO: Certified for ISO 27001, ISO 27017, and ISO 27018.
SOC: Compliant with SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 Type 2 controls.
PCI DSS: Meets Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.
HIPAA: HIPAA-ready with Business Associate Agreement (BAA) support.
GDPR: Features and DPA support to facilitate compliance with EU data privacy regulations.[11]
FIPS 140-2: Uses validated cryptographic modules compliant with FIPS 140-2 Level 1.[12]
Financial regulations: Supports immutable object retention and holds to meet SEC 17a-4(f), CFTC 1.31, FINRA 4511, and MiFID II archival requirements.[13]
SDK and API Integration
RESTful API: Supports S3-compatible operations (bucket/object CRUD, multipart uploads, lifecycle policies), authenticated via IBM Cloud IAM.[14]
Official SDKs: Available in Java, Python, Node.js, Go, built as forks of AWS SDKs with IBM extensions:
Supports IAM API keys, multipart transfers, Key Protect, SSE-C, archive rules, retention policies, and immutable storage.[15]
Python SDK is a fork of boto3, installable via ibm-cos-sdk.[16]
Event notifications and integration with IBM Cloud Functions.[18]
Customer Use Case Examples
Red Sift: Relies on IBM COS to meet business continuity compliance requirements and drive cybersecurity goals forward.[19]
Harvard: Uses IBM COS to accelerate and scale AI safety research.[20]
Comtelsat: Implements IBM COS within IBM Cloud to provide broadcasters with resilient platforms capable of smoothly delivering petabytes of video content.[21]
National Van Lines: Gained real-time replication and rapid recovery capabilities after migrating critical workloads to IBM COS.[22]
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