Which solution should a storage administrator choose for high-performance, transactional applications?

For high-performance, transactional applications, block storage is the optimal choice because it offers direct access to storage volumes at the block level, which allows for faster read and write operations. This type of storage is ideal for applications that require low latency and high throughput, such as databases and transactional systems where speed and the ability to handle numerous input/output operations per second (IOPS) are critical.

Block storage enables granular control over data storage that suits the needs of transactional applications, which often involve complex transactions requiring quick access to individual data blocks. This is unlike file storage, which organizes data in files and directories and may not provide the same performance benefits, particularly for transactions that demand rapid access to multiple data segments.

In contrast, blob storage is typically used for storing unstructured data like images or multimedia content, and object storage is optimized for large amounts of unstructured data. File-based storage may be sufficient for certain applications but does not match the performance and efficiency of block storage for high-performance transactions, where quick, reliable access is necessary.