A modern approach to the data deluge
IT leaders manage complexity while reducing cost with software-defined storage
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
Introduction
From physical to virtual to cloud, I.T. organizations have adopted increasingly complex technologies
as their enterprises demand greater agility. It’s left to I.T. leaders and their organizations to manage
this complexity, keeping operating costs low while delivering on ever-increasing SLA expectations.
With the rapid growth in unstructured data volumes, I.T. organizations are turning their attention to
storage to eliminate costs and inefficiencies while increasing performance, security, and reliability.
Data deluge puts traditional storage in the crosshairS
According to research by the McKinsey Global Institute1, the amount of data being generated globally is growing at a rate of 40% per year. To add to this, many firms are experiencing greater growth
rates for their unstructured data types (e.g., data that doesn’t fit neatly into a database, including
documents, videos, photos, audio files, presentations, web pages, etc.). The proliferation of virtual
servers only exacerbates this problem.
As enterprises capture more data from more sources, storage has become a key challenge for
enterprise I.T. leaders. One obvious cause for concern is cost. With I.T. storage spending keeping
pace with increasing data volumes, managing storage spend while planning for future growth
has become a priority for most enterprises. And with storage costs consuming nearly 20% of the
average I.T. budget2, enterprises will soon suffer from the hardware and maintenance fees paid to
legacy vendors like EMC and NetApp.
As scary as escalating storage costs are, though, they often aren’t what keep I.T. leaders up at night.
That honor goes to two related concerns: managing complexity and meeting SLAs.
As I.T. leaders look across today’s storage landscape, they see a staggering amount of complexity:
silos of storage deployed across the enterprise, each supported by layers of technology added in the
name of agility, efficiency, and automation. Each of these silos and technologies introduces a different set of tools and requires a different set of skills.
This complexity gets in the way of meeting SLAs. When problems arise, it can be nearly impossible
for engineers to isolate them, especially when those problems appear to originate within an opaque
proprietary black box. And vendor finger-pointing further delays the restoration of service.
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1 Big Data: The next frontier for innovation, competition and productivity. McKinsey Global Institute. June 2011.
2 http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/07/17/defensible-disposal-you-cant-keep-all-your-data-forever/.
Breaking down information silos with open
storage Software
To deliver scalable, reliable,
cost-effective, and secure
storage, IT leaders are turning
to open, software-defined
storage that enables them to:
Software-defined storage platforms simplify enterprise
storage
Today’s I.T. leaders are seeking a new approach to enterprise storage to address their many
concerns. They want a software-based storage platform that allows them to easily deliver enterprise-grade storage using the inexpensive and readily available x86 servers that they understand
and trust.
They want this new platform to be:
•Versatile, supporting a wide range of storage use cases simply
•Unify disparate data silos
•Standardize infrastructure
and acquisition
•Accessible via a wide range of standard protocols, as both files and objects
•Integrated into a common operational model
•Increase reliability
and scalability
•Manageable along with existing technologies via a single management console
•Future proof their
architectures
•Readily deployed to physical, virtual, and cloud-based resources
•Consistent with the organization’s infrastructure strategy
To meet or exceed SLA commitments, I.T. leaders need a storage platform that offers built-in high
availability and disaster recovery, without the complexity of third-party tools. And they want to add
new nodes to easily grow capacity and performance without disruption or downtime.
•Capitalize on open
source innovation
Because infrastructure technologies change so quickly, savvy I.T. leaders prefer open source solutions that tap into the power of community. They discourage the slow vendor upgrade cycles associated with proprietary offerings. Instead, they seek software-based solutions deployable on industry
standard hardware. They want solutions that will make them successful today and into the future.
Red Hat Storage Server frees I.T. organizations to deliver on
the promise of cloud
Red Hat Storage Server is an open-source, software-defined storage platform that enables I.T.
leaders to transform proliferating data stores from a cost burden into a strategic asset. Red Hat
Storage Server runs on off-the-shelf servers—physical, virtual, or cloud-based—pooling their storage
capacities and creating a common information repository that spans data types, access methods,
and deployment environments.
The solution enables an enterprise to use its existing infrastructure while establishing the foundation for flexible, limitless, cloud-compatible storage. By bringing together proven open source
technologies, including GlusterFS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Storage Server enables
enterprises to:
Unify disparate data Silos
With Red Hat Storage Server, infrastructure leaders can easily construct a converged data platform
that consolidates file, object, and cloud storage, supporting all of the enterprise’s unstructured and
semi-structured data needs.
Red Hat Storage Server is easily deployed both behind the corporate firewall and in the cloud,
enabling a hybrid enterprise storage cloud. By incorporating physical, virtualized, and cloud
resources, Red Hat Storage Server eliminates the need for disparate storage platforms, simplifying
the storage environment and dramatically reducing the operational cost and complexity of supporting today’s diverse applications.
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Technology Overview A modern approach to the data deluge
2
“ We provide a wide
range of entertainment
services, such as TV
channels, VOD (Video
On Demand), music, and
games on the cloud. It
is important for us to
choose appropriate
storage for each
service offering.
Red Hat Storage
delivers high availability
and scalability with
low cost, which takes
advantage of GlusterFS
technology. We are thus
able to build robust
platforms to meet the
requirements of
service providers.”
Katsumi Nagata
board director and executive
director, Technology and
Engineering Division
NTT Plala Inc.
In addition, I.T. organizations can manage a complete environment consisting of servers, storage,
and virtualization via a single management interface, yielding even greater efficiencies with Red Hat
Storage Server.
Standardize infrastructure and acquisition
Proprietary storage solutions utilize sole-source hardware and a closed-source embedded software
stack, locking customers into a proprietary pricing model where each incremental expansion commands a significant premium over the equivalent industry-standard component. By contrast, the
cost of commodity components is driven ever-downward by marketplace pressures, widening this
gap with each passing year.
Red Hat Storage Server is compatible with more than 75 off-the-shelf server models, allowing I.T.
organizations to achieve faster time-to-value through shorter decision cycles and streamlined procurement processes. Furthermore, by supporting a wide variety of infrastructure configurations,
Red Hat Storage Server gives I.T. organizations the freedom to choose the right hardware to meet
application and business requirements.
Increase reliability and scalability
Red Hat Storage Server allows capacity to be easily added to existing volumes as the need arises—
without downtime and without disruption to running applications. This allows organizations to
start with small Red Hat Storage Server deployments and scale incrementally as applications grow.
Adding nodes to a Red Hat Storage Server environment not only expands storage capacity, but it
also increases performance by providing additional input/output bandwidth.
I.T. leaders can meet and exceed demanding storage service-level agreements (SLAs) with Red Hat
Storage Server’s built-in high availability and disaster recorvery. No additional hardware or software
is required to achieve high levels of data availability both on-premise and in the cloud. The solution
automatically replicates data across multiple storage servers in multiple locations and can be configured to achieve and maintain the desired level of replication to ensure data availability requirements are met. These features allow Red Hat Storage Server to protect against failures of individual
instances and entire availability zones in public and private cloud environments.
Future-proof architecture
Red Hat Storage Server supports a wide variety of access protocols, allowing I.T. organizations to
support existing datacenter technologies while enabling future innovation.
And because the solution allows users and applications to access data via the CIFS, NFS, and POSIX
standards, it is easily integrated into existing processes and with existing systems. It also supports
object-based access via HTTP and REST, allowing developers to more easily deliver modern, dataready social, mobile, and web applications with the scalability and security required to support
content sharing via the web.
Support for big-data applications is provided as well. A Hadoop plugin enables compatibility with
the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). And Hadoop and other data-intensive applications
can run directly atop storage nodes, allowing for low-latency and high-throughput access to stored
files and objects.
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Technology Overview A modern approach to the data deluge
3
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW A modern approach to the data deluge
Capitalize on open source innovation
Since the release of the Apache web server in 1995, open source software has driven rapid enterprise I.T. innovation, including the development of today’s cloud computing technologies. Proprietary
vendors, mired in lengthy release cycles, remain focused on expanding deployments and upselling
customers. They rarely deliver the innovation companies need to gain a competitive advantage.
Community-based development enables customers to exchange ideas, share expertise, and directly
participate in the process of creating solutions to best suit their needs. And with Red Hat, organizations get the best of both worlds — the innovation of the open source community along with a commitment to the quality standards required for reliable 24x7 data center operations.
Breaking down information silos
With the rise of big data and the explosion of unstructured data, today’s I.T. leaders are rethinking
how storage is delivered for their organizations. To deliver modern storage, these leaders are taking
a page out of the cloud computing playbook and turning to open, scale-out storage software running
on industry standard servers.
Red Hat Storage Server is the leading open source, software-defined storage solution. It lays the
foundation for an agile, cost-effective storage architecture by consolidating file, object, and cloudbased data onto a platform able to span physical, virtual and cloud-based resources. With Red Hat
Storage Server, infrastructure leaders can confidently manage cost, complexity, and risk, capitalize
on emerging technologies, and drive future innovation across their organizations.
For more information on Red Hat Storage, visit www.redhat.com/storage.
ABOUT RED HAT
Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, using a community-powered approach
to provide reliable and high-performing cloud, virtualization, storage, Linux, and middleware technologies.
Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. Red Hat is an S&P company
with more than 70 offices spanning the globe, empowering its customers’ businesses.
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