As organizations consolidate their data, VAST S3 is increasingly becoming the primary home for critical assets. This session explores the transition from legacy storage to modern object storage, specifically addressing the key differences between file and object protocols, and why, with VAST, you may not have to choose between them. We will provide practical performance guidelines for working effectively with S3 illustrating, specifically how Hadoop applications can now more effectively run natively and efficiently on S3. To ensure your transition is resilient, we will conclude with a focus on "protecting the crown jewels." This section will cover the unique security architecture of VAST S3 and essential disaster recovery workflows, including active-active replication for applications requiring extreme levels of resiliency.