S3 Object Storage - Overview and Architecture

eEKAS provides an S3-compatible object storage service on top of Ceph. Ceph supplies the distributed object storage foundation, while eEKAS adds the management layer that makes the service practical to deploy and operate through the euroNAS GUI.

The platform is designed for private S3 storage, managed customer storage, backup targets, archive storage and application storage. It can be used internally by one organisation or as the basis for a service-provider style object-storage offering.

Screenshot reference: eEKAS cluster dashboard (../eekas-s3-screenshots/01-eekas-admin-overview.png)

Main Components

The eEKAS S3 implementation has four practical layers:

Layer	Purpose
Ceph storage layer	Stores object data and metadata across the cluster.
S3 gateway layer	Provides the S3-compatible protocol endpoint used by applications, backup tools and users.
Traffic distribution layer	Presents a stable access address and distributes client traffic across available gateway nodes.
eEKAS management layer	Provides GUI workflows for users, buckets, quotas, retention, topology, billing and the S3 Browser.

What eEKAS Adds Around Ceph

Ceph can provide the raw S3 backend, but eEKAS turns it into an operational service. Administrators can manage S3 users, buckets, quotas, topology and service settings without relying on low-level Ceph commands for routine work.

The live 5-node test cluster shows the intended operating model:

Cluster status and Ceph health are visible on the dashboard.
S3 management exposes users, buckets, billing and topology in one service console.
The S3 Browser provides a separate end-user portal.
Branding settings can be propagated across all cluster nodes.

Service Addressing

The captured test system exposes:

Site/zone: zone_eu-central-2
S3 endpoint shown to users: https://s3.eekas.com:8443
S3 Browser URL: https://192.168.0.21/s3browser/

In production, the endpoint should normally be published under the customer's DNS name and protected with a trusted TLS certificate.

Typical Use Cases

S3 backup repository for backup applications.
Archive storage with quota and retention controls.
Private cloud application storage.
Customer or tenant storage with usage reporting and billing export.
Managed S3 portal with customer-specific branding.

Source: eEKAS live test cluster and supplied euroNAS eEKAS documents, prepared on 2026-07-09.