The Migration to Object Based Storage

Here's an interesting read on some of the issues that traditional file systems face which can now be overcome with an object-based system. 

According to the author, Beth Pariseau:

Unstructured data is expected to far outpace the growth of structured data over the next three years. According to the "IDC Enterprise Disk Storage Consumption Model" report released last fall, while transactional data is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.8%, it's far outpaced by a 61.7% CAGR predicted for unstructured data.

This is a direct result of the digital content explosion. 

Robin Harris, senior analyst at StorageMojo observes:

"There are going to be extreme amounts of data as things like digital video and mobile networks grow; in five years, pretty much every phone will be 'smart,'...All of us storage geeks agree on that, and different people are beginning to visualize what that kind of growth needs in terms of storage infrastructure."

The article makes the case to "Think APIs, not files."  In essence, the point is as follows (as explained by Harris):

"File systems make less sense over time as the amount of data grows. Architecturally, it makes more sense for each file to have a unique 128-bit ID and use an Internet-like system for locating that file; a URL points to an address and there are files at that address, and object-based storage interfaces are essentially operating on the same principle."

The result, writes Pariseau, is that "with an object ID replacing a file name, more extensive data can accompany an object than the simple 'created,' 'modified' or 'saved on' fields available in traditional file systems. Thus, detailed policies can be applied to objects for more efficient and automated management. Without NFS or CIFS to serve up files to applications, object-based storage systems need to replace that layer of abstraction between raw blocks of data on disk and files that applications can recognize. Today's object-based systems use standard APIs such as Representational State Transfer (REST) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), or proprietary APIs to tell applications how to store and retrieve object IDs.

One of our key decisions when we designed Mezeo was the adoption of object-based architecture for cloud storage.  Mezeo can use traditional file systems as object based systems to deliver cloud storage, and can also expose cloud storage as a traditional file system (even though it has objects underneath the covers, or as an object system).  This reflects our view that there will be a prolonged period of co-existence followed by a migration to object based systems.

If you'd like to learn more about how Mezeo offers an agnostic storage services platform for storage service providers (SSP), take a look at this paper (registration required) by the same Robin Harris: Building a scalable shared file infrastructure. The paper gives service providers an introduction to:

• Cloud storage applications and customer drivers
• Mezeo's storage architecture and options
• Basic shared file storage reference designs
  

In the paper, Harris says that there are multiple ways to build highly scalable storage for cloud storage applications. He tells us how SSPs can differentiate their offerings:

The Mezeo platform allows the special features of the storage to be delivered to customers, while giving SSPs a powerful platform on which to build a business. Understanding what storage choices will better meet target market needs is a critical success factor. SSPs can differentiate their cloud services by careful selection of back end storage systems. The Mezeo platform gives SSPs great flexibility. Understanding how to use that flexibility will be key to growing a successful cloud storage service business.

Harris also presents five reference configurations (see diagrams below) in the paper, which vary in performance, availability, scalability, self-management and, of course, cost.

CONFIGURATION # 1: NEXENTA





CONFIGURATION # 2: PERMABIT




CONFIGURATION # 3: PARASCALE




CONFIGURATION # 4: Red Hat Enterprise Linux




CONFIGURATION # 5: NetApp




DOWNLOAD:
Robin Harris' Building a scalable shared file infrastructure >>