October Engineering Update: O3 Gets Faster, Leaner, and More Operator-Friendly

October pushed O3 deeper into enterprise territory. We shipped two releases, O3 v1.3.0 and the AkaveSDK v0.3.1 (protocol) adding full cache-management, kernel-accelerated file paths, AWS-accurate pagination, hardened metadata encryption, and a CLI-based ACME flow for bucket certificates.
Angelo Schalley
November 26, 2025

We also expanded operator tooling with config auto-upgrades, revision-sync improvements, and Compose refinements that make deployments cleaner and more predictable.

Here’s the full update:

About Akave O3

Akave O3 is our S3-compatible object storage API that sits on top of the Akave decentralized data layer. Everything we ship continues to center around three fundamentals:

Security  -  Performance  -  Operability

October sharpened all three.

Security You Can Trust

Default at-rest encryption refinements

  • Default encryption moved from AES-256 → AES-128 for faster CPU paths.
  • AES-256 remains fully supported; operators can set it in config and rotate keys.

Metadata encryption fixes (SDK v0.3.1)

  • New deterministic key derivation path for buckets + files.
  • Older metadata encrypted under the broken path cannot be decrypted; this is an intentional breaking fix to make listings decryptable without leaking unencrypted names.
  • Double-encryption bug in file upload path eliminated.

ACME certs via CLI

  • Fully automated HTTP-01 certificate generation for bucket domains.
  • Improved directory structure checks and retry paths.

Performance & Stability

Kernel-accelerated file moves

  • copy_file_range() and sendfile() used when available.
  • Automatic fallback to safe user-space copy on unsupported filesystems.
  • Produces noticeably faster rename/move flows on large objects.

Streamlined checksum + IO pipeline

  • New IdentityValidator unifies trailer validation.
  • Cleaner EOF semantics.
  • Optional non-blocking read paths.
  • Tuned TCP buffers and leaner hot loops (SHA-256/CRC64 removed; MD5 fast-path kept).

Non-blocking local waits + in-memory caching

  • Ristretto-backed memory cache for hot paths.
  • Faster local reads, lower latency.

Partial-content done correctly

  • Single-range and multi-range support.
  • Correct 206/416 semantics and SetContentRange logic.

Enterprise-Ready Features

Full cache-management suite (v1.3.0)

  • TTL cleanup with scheduled jobs.
  • LRU eviction using last-used tracking.
  • Disk quotas via percent or absolute MB.
  • Verification-aware caching: an object becomes “cached” only after integrity validation.

This brings O3 closer to predictable, tier-1 enterprise behavior under load.

Object listing / pagination (AWS-aligned)

  • Unified prefix + marker rules.
  • Base64 continuation tokens.
  • Correct truncation behavior.
  • Accurate CommonPrefixes de-duplication.
  • Matching AWS max-keys semantics.
  • Updated test suite.

This was one of the largest correctness lifts we’ve shipped.

Config auto-upgrades

  • Unknown keys removed.
  • Newly introduced keys annotated.
  • Ensures old configs remain forward-compatible with zero manual editing.

Docker / Compose operational improvements

  • Base image updated to RHEL UBI.
  • Breaking: mount path now /data/db (was /o3).
  • Report volume added.
  • Compose tuned for io_uring safety and limits.
  • More predictable runtime behavior across kernels.

Operator tooling

  • CLI enhancements:
    • revision-sync with dry-run
    • SyncObjectsWithRevisions
    • ACME tooling
  • Better lifecycle handling in local write paths.
  • Metadata cleanup and object ingestion fixes.

Protocol Layer Upgrades

Hardened metadata encryption (SDK v0.3.1)

  • Deterministic, secure key derivation independent of unencrypted bucket/object names.
  • Ensures listings can be decrypted safely through the SDK.

PDP-aligned improvements (from ongoing work)

  • Cleaner piece CID builder shared between node and SDK.
  • Metadata fixes pave the path for fully trustless listings and PDP-aware object views.

Prickly Pear (O3 GUI) Continuation

Work continued from September with more functional screens wired to the live O3 APIs:

  • Credentials are automatically created on first login via SSO (Google & GitHub), with the user’s S3 endpoint and access details published and ready to use.
  • The console supports creating multiple independent credential sets so teams can silo departments or isolate specific buckets from each other directly through the GUI.

Now available: www.akave.com/free-trial 

Release Recap (October)

O3 v1.3.0

A heavy release focused on operator friendliness, correctness, and performance.

Key highlights:

  • Cache TTL + LRU quotas
  • Kernel-fast moves
  • Partial-content correctness
  • Pagination overhaul
  • Streamlined checksum & IO
  • CLI-based ACME
  • Config auto-upgrades
  • Compose & RHEL UBI image updates
  • Breaking: /data/db mount; AES-128 default encryption
AkaveSDK v0.3.1

A focused release addressing metadata encryption correctness.

Key highlights:

  • Fixed double-encryption path
  • New deterministic key derivation
  • Updated tests
  • CI improvements

What’s Next

Deep PDP tooling

Operator surfaces for viewing, repairing, and validating pieces via PDP.

Lifecycle & tiering policies

Policy-driven movement between hot/warm/cold paths, tied into proofs.

Hosted O3 offering

For teams wanting to use O3’s S3 front-end while writing directly into Akave’s decentralized layer.

Connect with Us

Akave Cloud is an enterprise-grade, distributed and scalable object storage designed for large-scale datasets in AI, analytics, and enterprise pipelines. It offers S3 object compatibility, cryptographic verifiability, immutable audit trails, and SDKs for agentic agents; all with zero egress fees and no vendor lock-in saving up to 80% on storage costs vs. hyperscalers.

Akave Cloud works with a wide ecosystem of partners operating hundreds of petabytes of capacity, enabling deployments across multiple countries and powering sovereign data infrastructure. The stack is also pre-qualified with key enterprise apps such as Snowflake and others.

Moderne infra. Verifieerbaar door ontwerp

Of je nu je AI-infrastructuur schaalt, gevoelige records verwerkt of je cloudstack moderniseert, Akave Cloud is klaar om in te pluggen. Het voelt vertrouwd aan, maar werkt fundamenteel beter.