Why Cloud-Native Developers Need a Specialized Storage Layer

Cloud-native developers move fast. Continuous integration and continuous development/deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, containerized environments, and growing performance demands leave little room for delays. Even small bottlenecks can slow momentum, and a common source of slowdown is storage.

Most cloud-native teams default to storage from major cloud providers because it's convenient and deeply integrated with other services, such as compute, networking, and machine learning (ML). But that convenience isn't always optimized for development velocity. These platforms prioritize flexibility for a wide range of use cases, not the consistency and speed that fast-moving dev teams need.

Here's the good news: Adding a specialized, always-hot storage layer can reduce friction and unlock faster, smoother development-without changing the tools you already use.

This post kicks off a three-part series on how specialized cloud storage benefits every member of a cloud-native team: developers, DevOps engineers, and SREs.

First up: the developer.

When storage slows you down and how to fix it

When storage underperforms, it disrupts your development loop. Cold-tier delays, unpredictable time to first byte (TTFB), and inconsistent throughput take time away from building and shipping applications, or from supporting AI/ML workloads that depend on fast, consistent data access.

In the sections below, we look at how these issues show up in practice and how specialized cloud storage can help remove the roadblocks to faster development.

Build-test loops without the bottleneck

Fast feedback loops are the heartbeat of cloud-native development. Every delay in retrieving files, artifacts, or dependencies drags out build-test cycles and can also slow AI/ML workloads that rely on quick, repeated access to large datasets.

Delays often come from the way cloud providers structure tiered storage. Data is divided into hot, cool, and cold tiers. While cooler tiers cost less, they're built for retention, not speed. When builds depend on files stored in these tiers, retrieving them adds latency.

Lifecycle policies compound this by automatically moving files into cooler tiers if they haven't been accessed for a set period. When developers need those files again, they first have to retrieve them from a slower tier, adding latency and sometimes fees.

A specialized, always-hot storage layer eliminates these delays by removing tiers and retrieval hurdles altogether. All data stays instantly accessible, so artifacts and dependencies are always ready the moment they're needed. Builds run without waiting for restores, tests execute without interruption, and feedback loops stay tight.

Consistent throughput, no tuning required

With general-purpose storage from major cloud providers, consistent performance doesn't come out of the box. Developers are left to manage it themselves, often through manual tweaks such as file-size tuning or other trial-and-error adjustments.

But tuning only goes so far. Even if developers adjust file sizes or request patterns, those tweaks can't overcome the built-in delays of tiered storage systems. To compensate, many teams add caching layers or complex configurations. Those workarounds may patch performance gaps in the short term, but they create their own set of burdens:

• Extra rules and scripts: Moving data between tiers or maintaining caches often requires custom automation.
  
• Added complexity: Each workaround becomes another system to monitor and maintain, increasing the risk of errors.
  
• Slower workflows: Rather than focusing on development, teams burn time managing storage mechanics.

Specialized storage eliminates the need for tuning or caching altogether. With high-throughput performance available from the start, developers don't have to waste time building or maintaining workarounds. No scripts, no caches, and no trial-and-error.

Predictable performance under real workloads

General-purpose cloud storage can stumble when workloads scale. Because storage is tightly coupled with compute, networking, and access controls in big cloud providers' environments, conflicts between these layers can slow requests or, in some cases, cause downtime.

These mismatches happen for several reasons:

• Competing goals: Major cloud providers build storage to handle many use cases at once, but that broad design isn't optimized for any one workload. Compute jobs, in particular, demand consistent speed. The result is a mismatch: infrastructure built for broad efficiency can struggle to deliver reliable performance when applications scale in production, or when AI pipelines push storage and compute simultaneously.
  
• Complex rules: In big cloud provider environments, storage doesn't operate in isolation. Access controls, security policies, and service dependencies pile up across layers, and they don't always work in sync. A permission, routing choice, or automation can create unexpected bottlenecks when combined with other rules.
  
• Network constraints: High egress and cross-region transfer fees discourage data from moving freely between services or locations. Teams may delay or limit transfers to avoid unexpected costs, but that hesitation creates bottlenecks when workloads need to pull data across clouds or regions.

Together, these issues create hidden instability. Performance that seems fine in testing can falter in production as heavier workloads expose bottlenecks and small delays ripple through applications.

Specialized storage removes this uncertainty by eliminating the hidden conflicts that come from tightly coupled, general-purpose systems. With reliable, low-latency access that stays steady even under production load, teams don't have to scramble to fix surprises mid-release.

It's time to rethink the storage layer

You don't need to rip and replace your entire cloud strategy to get better performance. You just need to be strategic about which layers serve which purposes.

For cloud-native developers, that means choosing storage that keeps pace with your workflows, so you can move fast, stay in flow, and focus on code instead of configuration.

Backblaze B2 was built with developers in mind:

• Always-hot access to every object.
• S3-compatible APIs that work with your existing tools.
• Enterprise-grade reliability with the best price to performance in the industry.

Because it plugs directly into the tools you already use, you can add Backblaze B2 to your stack without rewriting workflows or retraining teams. Instead of working around storage, you finally get storage that works with you.

Tired of babysitting your storage or coding around its quirks? There's a better way. Explore how Backblaze B2 fits into your cloud-native stack, and how much faster things can move when builds run without bottlenecks, performance stays consistent, and new features ship without delay.