Introducing FAST Object Storage: low-latency, S3-compatible storage built for AI workloads
- April 20, 2026
- 2 min read
We're launching FAST, a new S3-compatible Object Storage type purpose-built for performance-intensive and AI workloads. It's built on VAST Data's industry-leading, all-flash storage platform, purpose-designed for high-throughput, low-latency data access at scale.
Standard object storage was designed for scale and cost-efficiency, and works effectively for a wide range of workloads such as backups and archives. But if you're running AI pipelines, ingesting IoT telemetry at high object rates, or serving latency-sensitive applications, waiting 200+ ms for a small file read can become a noticeable bottleneck.
Gcore FAST Object Storage removes that bottleneck. It combines lower latency, higher throughput, and the bandwidth to handle massive traffic from GPU clusters, all with rock-solid consistency. Because FAST is deployed exactly where our GPU infrastructure lives, it's a natural companion for AI pipelines that need high-speed data access close to compute.
FAST is already live in our AI regions in Portugal (Sines-2, Sines-3) and the UK (London-2).
Performance metrics
FAST delivers a dramatic performance leap over Standard (CEPH) storage, particularly for small-file and latency-sensitive workloads.
| Metric | Improvement |
| TTFB (small objects) | ~35× faster |
| Small-file throughput | Up to 27× faster |
| Mixed workload throughput | 2.2× faster |
| Large-file throughput | 1.9× faster |
Beyond raw speed, FAST shows rock-solid consistency with minimal variance between peak and sustained throughput. No spikes, no surprises.
Who should use FAST
- AI/ML teams. Training datasets, embedding stores, and massive small-file collections are exactly what FAST was built for. Paired with Gcore's GPU infrastructure in the same locations, you get a tight data-to-compute loop without network hops across regions.
- IoT and telemetry platforms. High object-rate ingestion is where standard storage struggles most and FAST shines brightest.
- Any latency-sensitive S3 workload in Southern Europe or the UK. If your application calls for single-digit-millisecond first-byte latency and you're operating in or near these regions, FAST is a straightforward upgrade.
Pricing
FAST pricing is consistent across all three locations.
| EUR | USD | |
| Storage | €0.06364/GiB/mo | $0.07/GiB/mo |
| Egress | €0.0013/GB | $0.00143/GB |
| Ingress | Free | Free |
| Requests | €0.03/10K | $0.033/10K |
Get started
FAST Object Storage is available now. It's fully S3-compatible, so if your tooling already speaks S3, migration is easy. Simply point your client at a new endpoint and go.
To provision FAST Object Storage, log in to the Gcore Customer Portal or reach out if you need a hand getting set up.
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