A Look at the Future of Storage

Where IT perceptions are reality
Copyright 2015© IT Brand Pulse. All rights reserved.Document # SPOTLIGHT2013001 v5, January 2015
Product Spotlight
A Look at the Future of Storage
Featuring
SUSE Enterprise Storage

Document # SPOTLIGHT2013001 v5, January 2015 Page 2
An Epic Migration is Underway to Software Defined Storage
Hyperscale growth by Amazon, Apple, Facebook,
Google, Microsoft, and others was made possible by a
software defined data (SDDC) architecture.
Commercial versions of the open-source software are
now available to enterprise IT, and an epic migration
to software defined storage is underway. As a result,
Enterprise SDS revenue will surpass traditional
enterprise storage revenue by 2021.
Using white box servers and software infrastructure
apps, the SDDC architecture reduced costs by 40%
versus proprietary hardware, enabled deployment of
virtualized resources in days versus months, and
delivered the ability to scale-out to millions of nodes.
Best Served Cold by Linux Vendors
A good starting point for deploying SDS is cold storage. Shipments of capacity-optimized HDD storage systems will
increase five-fold from 2012 to 2016. Demand for cold storage systems is driven by the growth of unstructured data
such as mobile messages, surveillance video, and medical records. Consequently, reducing the cost of cold storage is a
high priority for storage architects. SDS is an excellent solution for addressing the rising cost of cold storage. And unlike
transaction-intensive storage which is mission-critical, cold storage is not frequently accessed and a less risky
environment for deploying new technology.
Private cloud architects see software defined storage under the control of a cloud operating system. Because open-
source Linux is at the core of almost every cloud platform and SDS product, Linux O.S. vendors are best positioned to
provide superior expertise, products and support.
The Future Looks like SUSE Enterprise Storage
Established in 1992, SUSE is the original provider of the enterprise Linux distribution and a popular platform for mission
-critical computing. With a portfolio centered around SUSE Linux Enterprise, SUSE powers thousands of organizations
around the world across physical, virtual and cloud environments. SUSE is now offering commercial versions of the
OpenStack cloud operating system and CEPH software defined storage to Enterprise IT organizations building private
clouds. With SUSE OpenStack Cloud and SUSE Enterprise Storage, architects have a framework for a software defined
data center delivering hyperscale-like cost, agility, and scalability.
The remainder of this report is a review of SUSE Enterprise Storage.
Executive Summary
Enterprise Storage Revenue

Comprehensive SDS Addresses File, Block & Object Storage
SUSE Enterprise Storage is an example of a best-in-class solution in a new product category called “Software Defined
Storage.” That is because best-in-class private cloud environments deliver the lowest costs through a high degree of
automation and efficiency, and the most efficient way to deliver software defined storage is to deploy a comprehensive
and unified software defined storage which addresses file, block, and object storage in a single unified platform.
CEPH Covers All Three
SUSE Enterprise Storage is based on Ceph, an open-source platform designed to provide storage from a
highly-scalable, high-availability, cluster environment.
The foundation of Ceph is the Reliable Autonomic Distributed Object Store (RADOS), which provides
object, block, and file system storage in a single unified storage cluster. The distributed architecture of
Ceph RADOS is highly scalable with the ability to support thousands of application servers accessing up to exabytes of
data. Each application can use the object, block, or file system interfaces to the same RADOS cluster simultaneously.
Ceph storage clusters are designed to run on white box servers, using the Controlled Replication Under Scalable
Hashing (CRUSH) algorithm to distribute data evenly across the cluster. Cluster nodes are then able to access data
quickly without the type of bottlenecks found when scaling centralized storage architectures.
For cloud environments, Ceph object storage is accessible through Amazon S3 and OpenStack Swift REST APIs, as well
as a native API which can be used to integrate infrastructure or business applications.
Ceph block storage makes use of a Ceph Block Device, which is a virtual disk that can be attached to bare-metal Linux-
based servers or to virtual machines (VMs). Ceph RADOS provides block storage services such as snapshots and
replication. The RADOS Block Device (RBD) is also integrated with OpenStack Block Storage.
Ceph file storage (Ceph FS) is a POSIX-compliant file system which uses the same cluster as Ceph block storage and
Ceph object storage.
Software Defined Storage
Software Defined Storage File Block Object
How data is organized
By a file system residing in a
single host or controller, or
distributed and shared be-
tween multiple hosts.
In blocks and presented as
logical unit numbers with
SCSI addresses.
In containers, instead of a
tree-based file system. Re-
places RAID and replication
with erasure coding for data
redundancy.
Underlying software vSphere, Xen or KVM
Underlying hardware Industry-standard x86 server
How you buy it Software app-only or appliance (with server, hypervisor, and storage app)
Comparable HW product NAS system SAN RAID system Object storage appliance

Overview
SUSE Enterprise Storage is a fully featured, self-healing, self-managing, distributed SDS solution which enables
enterprise IT organizations to use commodity off-the-shelf servers and disk drives to build cost-efficient pools of
enterprise-class storage.
Based on Ceph, SUSE Enterprise Storage scales from a single-app storage system to a multi-petabyte storage
environment serving files, block and object storage to an entire enterprise.
Backed by expert SUSE Linux engineering and support, SUSE Software Based Storage provides enterprise IT with the
resources needed to ensure a successful migration to open-source-based software defined storage.
Anatomy of SUSE Enterprise Storage
The unified architecture of SUSE Enterprise Storage allows IT organizations to build a high-availability and highly
scalable storage cluster environment. The unified storage environment can simultaneously deliver object, block and file
storage to cloud apps, virtual machines and custom clients developed in-house.
OSD—An object storage
device is a physical or
logical storage unit
(e.g., LUN).
An OSD Daemon is the
OSD software which
interacts with a logical
disk.
RADOSGW—A bucket-
based REST gateway
compatible with
Amazon S3 and
OpenStack Swift.
RBD ( Raw Block Device )—A distributed block device with a Linux
kernel client, QEMU/KVM driver, and, enterprise features like
snapshot , thin provisioning and compression.
CephFS—POSIX-
compliant file system
with a Linux kernel
client and support for
FUSE.
Monitors—A monitor maintains a master copy of the cluster map. A cluster of monitors ensures high availability should a monitor fail.
Storing Data—The Ceph Storage Cluster receives data from Ceph clients (block device, object storage, file system or a custom client you
create using LIBRADOS) and it stores the data as objects. Each object corresponds to a file in a file system which is stored on an object
storage device (OSD). Ceph OSD Daemons then handle the read/write operations on the disks.
LIBRADOS—A library
allowing apps to
directly access RADOS.
RADOS—An object
store comprised of self-
healing, intelligent
storage nodes.

Capacity Products Today, Performance Products Tomorrow
SUSE has so far introduced three enterprise storage products—all targeting Tier 2 and Tier 3 applications for high
capacity storage. In the future, the company will be introducing products to address Tier 0 and Tier 1 transaction-
oriented applications and high-performance storage.
Small, Medium or Large
SUSE Enterprise Storage Standard Capacity (SC) High Capacity (HC) High Density (HD)
Enterprise Storage
Application
File sharing, bulk storage,
disk-to-disk backup, active
archive, disaster recovery.
Bulk storage such as cloud,
backup, and archive storage.
Cold storage which must be
accessible online, such as
archiving emails and records
for compliance.
Optimized for Bandwidth performance. Quick data recovery.
Low-cost, online access to a
large pool of data.
Key Features & Benefits
Replicated copies for redun-
dancy.
Journal & OS disk on SSD for
performance.
Disk-level encryption for
data security.
Erasure coding for
redundancy.
Snapshots for rolling back
copies.
Journal & OS disk on SSD for
performance.
security.
Erasure coding for
redundancy.
Low-cost HDDs for journal
and OS disks.
security.
Key Options SSD cache tier. SSD cache tier. Data tampering software.
Applications for SUSE Enterprise Storage
SUSE Enterprise Storage Products

Server Clusters Become a Basic Data Center Building Block
Deploying app server clusters to achieve both high performance and high availability is already a best practice in
enterprise data centers. Migrating to SUSE Enterprise Storage means replacing proprietary storage systems with more
server clusters. The difference is the new clusters will hosting storage software previously running on the proprietary
storage system controllers.
The future of enterprise storage looks like the diagram below where clusters of white box servers become a basic data
center building block— differentiated by their configuration for business, computing, storage, or networking apps.
SUSE Enterprise Storage Environment
Monitor Cluster
One monitor maintains a master copy of the cluster
map.
A cluster of monitors ensures high availability should a
monitor fail.
OSD Cluster
White box servers populated with HDDs and SSDs.
Data from object, block or file client is stored as object storage devices (OSDs).
Each OSD corresponds to a file in a file system.
Files are striped across many OSDs for performance.
Files are put into placement groups (PGs) and distributed to OSDs for high
availability.
App Server Clusters with Object, Block and File Storage ClientsObject Storage Clients
SUSE Enterprise Storage Environment

Your Organization Needs You to Go Software Defined
Your organization needs you to go software defined because hyperscales have
proven the total cost of your storage will go down on the order of 40%, and your
ability to deploy storage service levels will go down from months to days. It’s not
an exaggeration to say that if someone does not lead your company on a migration
to software defined storage, your company will someday be at a competitive
disadvantage.
The Right SDS Architecture for Private Clouds
The implementation of software defined storage is usually part of a broader project to build a private cloud based on a
software defined data center architecture. Because SUSE Enterprise Storage is based on Ceph, it offers the unique
ability to provide object, block, and file storage from a single unified platform. It’s also integrated with the SUSE
OpenStack Cloud and Amazon S3.
Unless you want to be in the business of integrating disparate object, block, file, and
cloud components, the SUSE architecture is the right architecture for busy private
cloud builders to efficiently deploy SDS.
Expert Linux Engineering & Support
Open-source cloud operating systems and software defined storage platforms are
based on the Linux operating system.
SUSE is a Linux OS pioneer and successful software vendor with thousands of
installations. I would expect to receive nothing less than expert support from SUSE
for their software based storage.
Looking Forward to Performance Products
Today SUSE Enterprise Storage includes three products for capacity storage. This
offering will help IT organizations start their migration to software defined storage in non-mission-critical environment.
This suite of products also provides IT organizations with software to cost-reduce bulk storage, the class of storage
where spending is increasing the fastest.
Having said that, the most expensive storage are the systems deployed to support transaction-oriented applications. I
look forward to seeing new products from SUSE which can address these applications.
Product Review

The Bottom Line
The general availability of open-source-based SDS apps from Linux vendors like SUSE marks the beginning of a new era
of much more agile, scalable, and cost-effective storage. SDS will displace traditional enterprise storage as the
dominant storage architecture and therefore creates a strategic imperative for storage IT pros.
The bottom line for IT organizations is SUSE is the right kind of company, and SUSE Enterprise Storage is the right set of
products to address the exploding cost of bulk storage with a low-risk approach.
Recommendations
 Learn about SDS technologies, products, fails, and successes.
 Determine the return-on-investment for deployment of SDS in your environment.
 Create an SDS migration strategy for your company.
 Start small and fail fast. Deploy SUSE Enterprise Storage in an DevOps lab or in a non-critical production
environment.
Resources
Linux: The Operating System of the Cloud
CEPH Architecture
SUSE OpenStack Cloud
Wikibon: The Rise of Server SAN
The Author
Frank Berry is founder and senior analyst for IT Brand Pulse, a trusted source of testing, research
and analysis about cloud IT infrastructure, including operating platforms, servers, storage and
networking. As former vice president of product marketing and corporate marketing for QLogic, and
vice president of worldwide marketing for the automated tape library (ATL) division of Quantum,
Mr. Berry has over 30 years experience in the development and marketing of IT infrastructure. If you
have any questions or comments about this report, contact frank.berry@itbrandpulse.com.
Summary

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