Here's a clear comparison between Object Store and Document Store, both of which fall under the NoSQL and modern cloud-native storage categories, but serve different use cases:
šø Object Store (e.g., Amazon S3, Azure Blob, Google Cloud Storage)
Feature
Description
Purpose
Designed for storing unstructured binary data like images, videos, backups, logs, etc.
Data Format
Stores objects (files) with metadata and a unique identifier. Each object is essentially a blob.
Query Capability
No querying of content inside files; only metadata or object name/path can be used.
Example Use Cases
Media storage, backups, data lakes, machine learning datasets, CDN content.
Access
Accessed via HTTP/HTTPS (REST APIs), supports ACLs and bucket policies.
Scalability
Infinitely scalable; optimized for durability and cost over speed.
Structure
Flat namespace (though folders can be simulated with prefixes).
Common Tools
Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage, MinIO
šø Document Store (e.g., MongoDB, Couchbase, Firebase Firestore)
Feature
Description
Purpose
Designed for storing semi-structured JSON-like documents that represent application data.
Data Format
Stores documents in JSON, BSON, or XML. Each document is a self-contained unit of data.
