Shared Storage
Definition
Storage that multiple servers or computers can access and modify simultaneously over the network, enabling collaboration and data consistency.
Use Cases
- Epic Games: Shared file storage for build and content pipelines where many compute nodes need concurrent access to the same assets and outputs. — Used Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) as a shared file system that multiple Amazon EC2 instances can mount simultaneously, enabling teams and automated jobs to read/write the same files without manual synchronization. (Simplified collaboration and automation by centralizing shared assets and outputs, reducing operational overhead compared with managing file servers and manual file distribution.)
- Autodesk: Shared storage for cloud-based rendering workflows where many render nodes need access to the same scene files and textures. — Used Azure Files as a managed shared file share that multiple compute nodes can mount concurrently, keeping project files in one place while scaling compute separately. (Improved workflow efficiency by avoiding repeated file copying to each node and enabling parallel processing against a consistent, shared dataset.)
Provider Equivalents
- AWS: Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)
- Azure: Azure Files
- GCP: Filestore
- OCI: File Storage
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between Shared Storage and object storage (like Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud Storage)?
- Shared Storage is a file system that servers mount (like a network drive) and access with normal file paths and file locks, so many machines can read/write the same files at once. Object storage stores data as objects accessed via an API (HTTP), which is great for durability and scale but isn’t a mounted POSIX/SMB file system by default and typically requires application changes or gateways to behave like a file share.
- When should I use Shared Storage?
- Use it when multiple servers need concurrent access to the same files with familiar file semantics (directories, permissions, file locking). Common cases include shared web content, CI/CD build artifacts, media rendering pipelines, shared home directories, lift-and-shift apps that expect a NAS, and analytics/HPC workloads that need a shared working directory.
- How much does Shared Storage cost?
- Costs usually depend on (1) how many GB/TB you store, (2) how much you read/write (throughput and IOPS), (3) performance tier or provisioned capacity (if offered), (4) snapshots/backups, and (5) data transfer (especially cross-zone/region access). Managed shared file services are typically more expensive per GB than object storage, but can reduce engineering and operational costs by avoiding custom sync, file servers, and complex clustering.
Category: storage
Difficulty: intermediate
Related Terms
See Also