Legacy Lab

Introduction

This lab is designed to move beyond theoretical definitions. You will research, compare, and implement cloud storage solutions. Instead of following a tutorial, you are expected to consult official documentation, analyze trade-offs, and justify your architectural decisions.

1. The Storage Matrix: Research & Comparison

Cloud storage is not a "one size fits all" solution. Your first task is to research the three fundamental types of storage and build a comprehensive comparison matrix.

Task 1.1: Deep Dive Research

Research Block Storage, File Storage, and Object Storage. Focus on how they handle data at the physical and logical layers.

Task 1.2: Build the Comparison Matrix

Fill in the following table based on your research. Do not copy-paste definitions; use technical criteria.

Task 1.3: Provider Mapping

Identify the equivalent service for each storage type across the "Big Three" cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP).

2. Security Engineering: IAM Policy Construction

Providing "Full Access" is a security failure. You must implement the principle of least privilege.

Scenario

You are a Cloud Engineer tasked with securing an S3-compatible bucket named finance-records-2024.

Challenge

Write a JSON IAM policy that meets the following requirements:

1. Allow a specific user to list the contents of the bucket.
2. Allow the user to read (download) objects from the bucket.
3. Explicitly Deny the ability to delete any object, even if they have other permissions.
4. The policy must only apply to the finance-records-2024 bucket.

Resource for Research: AWS IAM JSON Policy Reference

3. Practical Implementation: Minio CLI & Object Management

While the GUI is useful for beginners, professionals use the Command Line Interface (CLI) for automation and efficiency.

Step 1: Initialize the Environment

Launch a local S3-compatible environment using Docker:

docker run -d -p 9000:9000 -p 9001:9001 \
  --name minio-lab \
  -e "MINIO_ROOT_USER=admin" \
  -e "MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=password123" \
  quay.io/minio/minio server /data --console-address ":9001"

Step 2: The mc (Minio Client) Challenge

Install the Minio Client (mc) on your local machine. Use the Minio CLI Documentation to complete the following:

1. Configure Alias: Create an alias for your local server.
2. Bucket Lifecycle: Create a bucket named sensitive-data.
3. Quota Management: Research and apply a hard quota of 100MB to the sensitive-data bucket.
4. Anonymous Access: Research how to set the policy of a bucket to download (public read-only) using only the CLI.
5. Versioning: Enable versioning on your bucket and demonstrate how to recover a "deleted" file.

4. Architectural Decision Records (ADR)

You are presented with the following business scenarios. For each, write a short (1-2 paragraph) proposal.

Your proposal must justify:

• Choice of Storage Type (Block, File, Object, or Ephemeral).
• Choice of Cloud Provider Service.
• Impact on Cost vs. Performance (IOPS/Bandwidth).
• Security considerations (Encryption at rest/in transit).

Scenario A: Media Streaming Startup

A new platform needs to store and serve 500TB of video content to global users. The data is rarely modified once uploaded but frequently accessed.

Scenario B: High-Frequency Trading (HFT) App

An application requires the lowest possible latency for processing transient data. The data is lost if the instance restarts, which is acceptable for this specific workload.

Scenario C: Enterprise ERP Migration

A legacy ERP system requires a shared filesystem that multiple Linux instances can mount simultaneously via NFS to share configuration and state files.

Scenario D: State-of-the-art PostgreSQL Cluster

A database requires consistent sub-millisecond latency and the ability to take point-in-time snapshots for disaster recovery.

5. Self-Assessment & Research Questions

Before finishing, research and answer the following:

1. What is the "Thundering Herd" problem in shared file storage?
2. Why is "Eventual Consistency" a challenge for distributed object storage, and how have modern providers (like S3) recently changed their consistency model?
3. Compare Cold Archive storage (e.g., Glacier) vs. Standard storage in terms of retrieval time and "egress" costs.