March 21, 2025 3 min to read

Introduction to MinIO - High Performance Object Storage

A comprehensive guide to MinIO installation and usage

Overview

MinIO is a high-performance distributed object storage system designed for scalability, security, and easy deployment.

Let’s explore its features and implementation.

What is MinIO?

Key Features

Scalability

• Connect multiple nodes for efficient petabyte-scale data management
• Distribute data across all nodes for improved fault tolerance and performance

High Availability and Durability

• Supports erasure coding and bitrot protection
• Continuous access even during partial infrastructure failures

Performance

• Designed for high-performance environments
• Handles numerous concurrent requests without latency
• Ideal for high-traffic applications like web and cloud services

S3 Compatibility

• Full compatibility with Amazon S3 API
• Seamless integration with existing tools and libraries
• Easy migration path to Amazon’s cloud

Security

• Encryption at rest (using AES-256)
• Transport encryption (TLS)
• Identity and access management through built-in identity server
• Integration with external identity providers using OpenID Connect or LDAP/AD

Multi-tenancy

• Supports multiple users or teams
• Strict isolation and control mechanisms

Deployment

• Deployable on various platforms including Kubernetes
• Supports virtual machines, bare metal, and containerized environments

Installation

Add MinIO Helm repository:

helm repo add minio https://charts.min.io/

helm repo list
NAME    URL                   
minio   https://charts.min.io/

Standard Installation

helm install my-minio minio/minio \
  --namespace minio \
  --create-namespace \
  --set accessKey=rootuser,secretKey=rootpass123

Toy Setup

helm install --set resources.requests.memory=512Mi \
  --set replicas=1 \
  --set persistence.enabled=false \
  --set mode=standalone \
  --set rootUser=rootuser,rootPassword=rootpass123 \
  --generate-name minio/minio \
  --namespace minio \
  --create-namespace

Verify Installation

k get po,svc,deploy -n minio

Configure Service Access

# Change console service to NodePort
kubectl patch svc minio-1724308499-console -n minio \
  --type='json' \
  -p='[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/type", "value": "NodePort"}]'

# Change API service to NodePort
kubectl patch svc minio-1724308499 -n minio \
  --type='json' \
  -p='[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/type", "value": "NodePort"}]'

Using MinIO Client (mc)

Installation

# For MacOS
brew install minio/stable/mc

Configure Client

mc alias set myminio http://10.0.71.51:31067 rootuser rootpass123

Basic Operations

# Create bucket
mc mb myminio/somaz-bucket

# List buckets
mc ls myminio

# Upload file
mc cp test.txt myminio/somaz-bucket

# Download file
mc cp myminio/somaz-bucket/test.txt .

MinIO Console Interface

MinIO Console login

References

• MinIO Kubernetes Operator Guide
• MinIO Helm Chart Documentation
• MinIO Client (mc) Documentation