Object storage

Object storage is a persistent storage system that organizes data as distinct units, called objects. Objects are saved in a flat data environment with a simple organization structure that gives you unlimited storage and fast data access. From Maximo® Visual Inspection version 8.9, you can store inspection data set images in object storage.

Supported object stores

You can store inspection data set images in the following S3 compatible object stores:

IBM Cloud® Object Storage
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)
Google Cloud Storage

Storage bucket

When you create a storage bucket, you can select characteristics such as storage tier and encryption for a storage bucket.

When you configure the IBM® Maximo Application Suite object storage entity, the IBM Cloud Object Storage and Amazon Web Services storage providers embed a region name in the resulting URL.

Google Cloud Storage does not embed a region name in the URL.

If you are using IBM Cloud Object Storage and Amazon Web Services storage providers, create and name the storage bucket in the specific region of the URL that was created.

For more information, see Database configuration details in the IBM Maximo Application Suite documentation.

Data storage migration

Object storage is compatible only with inspection data sets. By default, all data sets use a persistent volume claim (PVC) for storage. When object storage is enabled, the data in new and existing inspection data sets is stored as follows:

Data in existing inspection data sets continues to use PVC storage and does not automatically use object storage.
New data added to inspection data sets is automatically stored in object storage.

Note: To move the files in an existing inspection data set from PVC to object storage, reselect the inspection data set type. By selecting a data set, you can click Change data set type from the menu. A background migration of the data to object storage is scheduled, and the data set remains fully operational during this time.