How OpenStack Block Storage differs from traditional block storage
October 8, 2013
Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Carol Sliwa.
Open source, software-based OpenStack Block Storage, also known by the code name Cinder, takes a different approach from the traditional block storage products that enterprise IT shops are intimately familiar with. Ashish Nadkarni, a research director in the storage systems practice at Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp., likened OpenStack Block Storage to storage virtualization from vendors such as Hitachi Data Systems and IBM in its ability to provide an abstraction layer to integrate third-party arrays and pool storage resources, but in an open source format.
In this interview, Nadkarni also explained the provisioning model, hardware options and the role OpenStack Block Storage plays as part of the open source OpenStack cloud computing and management platform…
From a technology perspective, what are the main distinctions between OpenStack Block Storage and traditional block storage?
Ashish Nadkarni: Traditional storage has always been designed with integrated stack or unitary delivery mechanisms in mind. When you talk about traditional storage systems from NetApp, EMC or any of these players, everything you need to deliver persistent storage to the compute layer is within the stack or the platform that is provided by the vendor. You don’t need to go outside of that vendor’s platform to deliver any kind of storage services. Whether it is persistent storage in the form of disks, data resiliency in the form of RAID, data management, snapshots, clones and/or any data mobility functions, any and all functions that you need to get the most out of your storage platform are delivered from within the storage system itself…