White Paper

OpenStackSolutions

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Table of Contents

Abstract 3

OpenStack Interest and Industry Challenges 4

How INFINIDAT Can Help 7

INFINIDAT Values 7

Scalability 8

Reliability 9

Efficiency 10

Simplicity 11

InfiniBox in an OpenStack Environment 12

BlockStorage(Cinder) 13

ObjectStorage(Swift) 13

Compute(Nova) 14

ImageService(Glance) 15

Conclusion 16

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Abstract

INFINIDAThasdevelopedastorageplatformthatprovidesuniquesimplicity,efficiency,reliability,andextensibilitythatenhancesthebusinessvalueoflarge-scaleOpenStackenvironments.TheInfiniBox™platformisapre-integratedsolutionthatscalestomultiplepetabytesofeffectivecapacityina42Urack.Theplatform’sinnovativecombinationofDRAM,flash,andcapacity-optimizeddisk,deliverstuning-free,highperformanceforconsolidatedmixedworkloads,includingobject/Swift,file/Manila,andblock/Cinder.Thesefactorscombinetocutdirectandindirectcostsassociatedwithlarge-scaleOpenStackinfrastructures,evenversus‘build-it-yourself’solutions.InfiniBoxdeliverssevennines(99.99999%)ofavailabilitywithoutresortingtoexpensivereplicasorslowerasurecodesfordataprotection.Operationsteamsappreciateourdeliverymodeldesignedtoeasilydropintoworkflowsatalllevelsofthestack,includingnativeCinderintegration,Ansibleautomationplaybooks,andpowerfulPythonSDKandRESTfulAPIs.ThispaperdiscusseswhyINFINIDATstorageshouldformthebackboneofyourOpenStackinfrastructure.

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OpenStack Interest and Industry ChallengesOpenStackisagrowingtrendacrosstheITindustrythatoffersmanyadvantages,includingstandardizationacrossvendors,acceleratedapplicationdeployment,andincreasedefficiency.INFINIDATbelievesinthepowerofOpenStackandasanOpenStackFoundationCorporateSponsor1,wefrequentlyreceiveinquiriesaboutOpenStacksupportfromavarietyoforganizations.Thoseorganizationstypicallyfallintooneofthreecategories:

1.Organizationsthatrecognizetheagility,flexibility,andcostsavingpossibilitiesOpenStackoffers,buthaven’tactuallydeployedanOpenStackenvironmentinproduction

2.OrganizationsthathaveOpenStackenvironmentsinproductionwhichincorporatewhite-boxstoragehardware—abuild-it-yourselftypeapproachleveragingstoragesoftwarelayerslikeRedHatCeph(forlargerdeployments)orLVM(forsmallerdeployments)

3.OrganizationsthathaveOpenStackenvironmentsinproductionwhichincorporatebrandedstoragehardwarefromtraditionalandstartupvendors

Thethirdcategoryoforganizationsweencounterisdramaticallysmallerthantheothers,whichspeaksvolumesaboutbothprevailingclientphilosophiesandthestateofOpenStackcapabilitiesamongthestoragevendorcommunity.

SomeOpenStackpractitioners,foundinorganizationsfromthesecondcategoryabove,adoptnear-religiousphilosophiesthatallOpenStackdeploymentsshouldbebasedonahighlyhomogenizedsetofhardware(a“seaofservers”)whichsupportsallthevariousservicesrequired—fromdatabase,togeneral-purposecompute,tostorage,tonetwork.

OpenStack is a growing trend across the IT industry that offers many advantages, including

standardization across vendors, accelerated application deployment, and increased efficiency.

1https://www.openstack.org/foundation/companies/profile/Infinidat-2

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Thishomogeneous“build-it-yourself”approachhasbenefitsatboththeverysmallandhyperscaleendsofthespectrum.Atverysmallscale,itdoesn’tmakesensetoseparatecoreserviceslikestorageandcomputeintoseparatehardwareplatforms—thecostsofaddingdedicatedinfrastructurefordifferentcapabilitiesaretoohightoseesignificantincrementalreturn.Athyperscale,thesheerprocurementcomplexitiesofbuyingdifferentpermutationsofdedicatedinfrastructurethousandsoftimesoverimposesignificantbusinesscosts—negotiatingwithhardwarevendorsnotonceortwicebuttensorhundredsoftimesistime-consumingandcostly.Moreover,ongoingdevelopmentandsupport/maintenancecostsassociatedwithbuild-it-yourselfdeploymentmodelscanbeamortizedoveravastamountofinfrastructure.Sothereturnonbuild-it-yourselfsolutionscanbepositive,butonlywhenthescaleiseitherverysmallorverylarge.

Thecost/benefitforcesaredifferentforthevastsetofOpenStackusersinthemiddle,withdeploymentsizesrangingfromtenstothousandsofservers,usuallywithtensofterabytestotensofpetabytesofstorage.ForthosemidsizetolargeOpenStackdeployments,mostorganizationscan’taffordtospendinternalengineeringandQAtimetryingtobuild,integrate,andtunevariousstoragesoftwarelayerstofunctionwiththeirchosenhardwareplatforms.Inaddition,toachieveenterprise-graderesiliencythroughthebuild-it-yourselfapproach,manyorganizationsendupeitherbuyingmoreinfrastructurethantheyneedtosupportthebusiness,orspendingmorehumancapitalvettingandqualifyingboththehardwareandsoftwareplatforms,obliteratingmanyoftheperceivedcostsavings.Furthermore,theincrementalcoststokeepabuild-it-yourselfstoragesolutionresilientasitgrowsovertimeaddupdramatically—softwareusedinsuchenvironmentstendstofollowarapid,iterativereleaseprocess,andnewhardwaremustbequalifiedregularly.Unfortunately,thesechallengesareoftenoverlookeduntilorganizationsarealreadyheavilyinvestedinthebuild-it-yourselfapproach.

Crossing all types of OpenStack deployments is a common thread of efficiency and resiliency challenges.

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OnceorganizationsrealizethechallengesofscalingOpenStackdeploymentsfrominitialproofs-of-concepttofullproductionscale,theytendtomovetothethirdcategoryidentifiedearlier,andstartconsideringOpenStackstoragesolutionsbasedonbrandedvendorhardware.Consultantsor‘managed’OpenStackdistributionsareoftenconsideredatthisstage,too.MoststoragearrayvendorsofferOpenStacksolutionsthatsoundsimple—traditionalarraysupdatedwithOpenStackCindersupport,forexample.Thechallenges reallystarttoappearwhenclientsdivedeeperandstartnoticingthatamongotherthings:

•Legacyarrayplatformsusuallyrequireaseparatemanagementserverto translatetoOpenStackAPIs

•Therecanbesignificantrestrictionsonthefeaturesthatcanbeusedwith legacystorageplatformOpenStackdrivers

•Authenticationlayerscanbevariedandcomplex

Suddenly,clientsinthethirdcategoryfindthemselvesinabind:whatinitiallysoundedliketheeasier,cheaperoptionendsuprequiringdramaticallymoreeffortandsignificantlymorecost.Thenetresultisjustanotherlayerofcomplexityontopoftheiralreadycomplicatedstorageenvironments.ThisrealityistheexactoppositeoftheOpenStackphilosophy.

CrossingalltypesofOpenStackdeploymentsisacommonthreadofefficiencyandresiliencychallenges.Fromthebuild-it-yourselfperspective,typicalexpectationsforscale-out,software-definedstoragesolutionsinclude:

•Severalreplicasofdatatotrytoachievefour-orfive-ninesresiliency

•Aforcedchoicebetweenexpensivehigh-performanceorlow-costhigh-capacityalternatives—neverboth

•Aninefficienthighratioofcontrollerstostoragecapacity

OpenStack storage must address three key challenges— simplicity, efficiency, and resiliency — all with an

eye toward total cost of ownership (TCO).

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Brandedvendorstoragetypicallydoesnotrequiresomanyreplicastogetdecentresiliency,buttheotherfactorsremain—andofcoursethereisamassivepricehikewhenputtingoneofthesevendor’slogosonthebox.

Intoday’sworld,costsofrawstoragecapacityandcomputestilladdupdramatically,workloadprofilescanvarydramaticallyminute-by-minute,andfour-tofive-ninesavailabilityisunacceptable,especiallyatscale.Anidealsolutionfortoday’slarge-scaleOpenStackenvironmentsneedstochallengethetraditionalexpectationsassociatedwithbothendsofthespectrum.INFINIDATbelievesthelackofstoragesolutionsthataddressallofthesechallengesforlarge-scaleOpenStackenvironmentsisamajorreasonwhysomanyorganizationsare:

•StuckdreamingofthevaluesofOpenStack—category1

•Strugglingwithscalingbuild-it-yourselfsolutions—category2

•Justplainfrustratedwiththeclashofoldvendorarchitecturestrying toadapttonewplatforms—category3

Fortunately,theadventoftrulyOpenStack-optimizedstoragesystemslikeINFINIDATInfiniBoxgivesmid-to-largescaleOpenStackusersabetterpath.

How INFINIDAT Can HelpOpenStackstoragemustaddressthreekeychallenges—simplicity, efficiency,andresiliency—allwithaneyetoward total cost of ownership (TCO),becausetechnologydecisionsareusuallyeconomicdecisionsindisguise.Withoverfiveyearsofdevelopmentandhundredsofpetabytesofrealcustomerdeployments,theINFINIDATstoragearchitectureisproventoexcelatallthreefactorsacrossavarietyofusecases,andtheINFINIDATbusinessmodelenablesclientstoachieveunprecedentedeconomicsatmulti-petabytescale.INFINIDAT’scomprehensiveapproachtoOpenStackintegrationmakesiteasyforOpenStackuserstoconsumetheseadvantagesacrosstheirentireOpenStackinfrastructures.

INFINIDAT ValuesThe INFINIDAT storage software architecture2,asimplementedinInfiniBox,embodiesthenextgenerationofhighlyoptimizedstorageformulti-petabytescaledeployments,atafractionofthecostoftraditionalsolutions.InfiniBoxaddressesdiverseworkloadsincluding

2http://content.infinidat.com/storage_architecture_whitepaper

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Show Volume Attributes Using Cinder

The scale of the INFINIDAT architecture can both consolidate existing workloads, as well as support new

workloads like OpenStack, all on the same platform.

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traditionalline-of-businessapplications,virtualizationplatformslikeVMware,high-performancecomputing(HPC)environments,cloudplatformslikeOpenStack,andmanyotherdata-intensiveactivities.Thissectiondescribesthefundamentalplatformcapabilitiesandvaluesthatenablethiskindoflarge-scale,mixedworkloadconsolidationforourclients.

ScalabilityThedevelopmentofInfiniBoxstartedwithscaleinmind.Today,themostpopularInfiniBoxconfigurationincludesoverapetabyteofstoragecapacity,andlargerclientschoosetodeploymorethantenpetabytesofInfiniBoxstorage.InfiniBoxscalestomultiplepetabytesofeffectivecapacityinasingle,standard42Urack.ThescaleoftheINFINIDATarchitecturecanbothconsolidateexistingworkloads—clientshaveconsolidatedasmanyas30legacyarraystoasingleInfiniBox—aswellassupportnewworkloadslikeOpenStack,allonthesameplatform.Clientscanalsochoosetostartsmallandgrow,withstarterconfigurationsavailableinthe100TBrange.Flexibleconsumptionmodels,includingcapacityondemand,allowclientswithpredictablegrowthratestodeployalargersystemthantheircurrentrequirementsandpayforcapacityastheyconsumeit.

Capacityandperformancescalabilitytypicallygohand-in-hand.InfiniBoxisdesignedfromthegroundupforunmatchedperformance,leveragingasmuchas3TBofDRAMand200TBofflashcachetoachieveaggregateperformanceofover12GB/sand1millionIOPSandlatencybelow200microseconds—dependingonworkload,adouble-digitperformanceadvantageovertraditionalall-flasharrays.INFINIDATstoragesoftwaremaintainsa“heatindex”forallstoreddata,anddynamicmachinelearningprocessesensurethatthemostactivedataresidesinDRAMorflash,whilethepermanentcopyofalldataisstoredoncost-effectiveharddrives.Thisdatamovementprocesshappensproactivelyandcontinually,incontrastto”tiering”approaches,withnoneedforuserinterventionorexcessdatachurnwithinthesystem.Allstoragesystemsimplementsomekindofcachingortieringlayer,butdoingsoeffectivelyatscaleisextremelydifficult,andINFINIDATholdsseveralkeypatents inthisspace.

Whilescalabilityacrossperformanceandcapacitydimensionstraditionallyrequires multiplestoragesolutions,InfiniBoxisasinglestoragesoftwareplatformthatcanserve anyOpenStackworkloadwithextremelylowTCOand99.99999%availability.

ReliabilityInfiniBoxdelivers99.99999%availabilitythroughaninnovative,self-healingarchitectureandbest-in-classreplication.Thisseven-ninesavailability—theequivalentof3.15secondsofdowntimeperyear—yieldsalevelofreliabilitythatis100timesbetterthanfive-nines(99.999%)alternatives.InfiniBoxachievesmainframe-classavailabilitywithoutincrementalcostsfromproprietaryhardwareorexcesshardwareredundancy.

InfiniBox is a single storage software platform that can serve any OpenStack workload with

extremely low TCO and 99.99999% availability.

InfiniBoxprotectsdatawithapatenteddual-parity,declusteredRAID-likeapproachcalledInfiniRAID™,whichautomaticallydistributesdataacrossallthesystem’senclosuresanddiskdrives.InfiniRAIDsupportsaconcurrentlossoftwodriveswithoutanydisruptionorperformanceimpact.SinceInfiniRAIDusesalldrivesinthesystematalltimes,recoveringtoafullyredundantstatefromadoublefailureofeventhelargestcapacitydrivestakesonlyafewminutes.Eventhoughitisdesignedforperformance,InfiniRAIDrequiresminimaloverheadtoachievethisoutstandingresiliency.

SomeclientschoosetoreplicateINFINIDATsystemsfordatacenter-scaledisasterrecoverypurposes.TheInfiniBoxreplicationengineusesourinnovativesnapshottechnology,minimizingdatatransferacrossreplicationlinksandallowingsystemstoperformmostreplicationactivitiesleveragingfastcachealone.Toreplicatevolumes,theprimaryInfiniBoxshipssnapshotlogstothesecondaryInfiniBoxperiodicallybasedonaguaranteedRPOaslowas4seconds.Theresultingasynchronousrelationshipisresponsiveenoughtoreplacesynchronousreplicationinmanyclientenvironments.

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EfficiencyOverallInfiniBoxefficiencycomesfromseveralfactors:

•HighlyefficientInfiniRAIDdataprotection—supportingoverall99.99999% platformavailabilitywhileimprovingrawcapacityutilizationversustypicaldataprotectionimplementations.

•OptimizeduseofDRAM,flash,andharddrives—effectivelycombiningsolid-stateperformanceandcapacity-optimizedharddriveeconomicsatmulti-petabytescale.

•Datareductionsoftwarefeatureswithoutcompromises—in-linecompression,space-efficientsnapshots,andthinprovisioning.

Whilealldatareductionfeaturesareimportant,thevaluesofInfiniBoxspace-efficientsnapshotsandin-linecompressionparticularlystandoutformanyworkloads.InfiniBoxsnapshotsofferacombinationofperformanceandscale(100,000snapshotspersystem)thatisparticularlyattractiveformodernDevOpsworkloadswhicharedesignedaroundmanycopiesofdata.InfiniBoxsnapshotscanalsobeeasilyintegratedintoenvironmentsfrombackupsolutionslikeCommVaulttoactivedatalayerslikeOpenStackCinder.Leveragingsnapshotsinsteadofwritingredundantdatadramaticallyenhancesoverallsystemefficiency.Meanwhile,INFINIDATreal-timedatacompressionincreasessystemcapacityefficiencyregardlessofworkloadlayout,withoutimpactingperformance.Compressionoccursasdataisdestagedtodisk,afterdataisprotectedinmirroredcontrollermemory.Asaresult,writesgetacknowledgedquickly,butthecompressionenginehasmoretimetorunbeforedataisdestaged,yieldinghighercompressionratios.TheseadvanceddatareductionfeaturesmultiplyInfiniBoxefficiencyformanyworkloads.

INFINIDAThasdesignedanefficientproductthatminimizesenvironmentalimpactandphysicalfootprintduringboththemanufacturingprocessandproductoperations.AfullyconfiguredInfiniBoxwithmultiplepetabytesofeffectivecapacityoccupiesasingle42Urackandconsumes8kWofpowerunderpeakload,foragreenenergyfootprintofunder4WperusableTB.Otherstoragesystemsoffersomecombinationofefficiencyfeatures,however,noneprovideallaseffectivelyatscaleasINFINIDAT.

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SimplicityInfiniBoxhasbeendesignedtobeeasytouseandintegrateintoexistingdatacenterworkflows,regardlessofdesiredconsumptionmodel,deploymentenvironment,orlevelofstorageexpertise.TheINFINIDATdatapathalreadyabstractsawaymanyofthechallengesoftraditionalstorageandevennew,build-it-yourselfarchitectures,withnoneedtokeeptrackofdifferentstoragemediaorphysicaldatalayoutthroughthelifeofthesystem.Usersalsodon’tneedtoworryaboutprotocolchoices,asInfiniBoxdeliverstrulyunifiedstoragedesignednativelyformultipleworkloadsandprotocols,includingFibreChannel,NASandiSCSI,aswellasmainframeFICON.ClientscaneasilydeployOpenStackviaiSCSI,VMware viaNFS,andbare-metalworkloadsviaFibreChannel,allinthesameInfiniBox.

INFINIDATexposesthatsimplicitytotheadministratorviaanintuitiveHTML5GUIthatfacilitatesdeployingstoragewithinminutesofinstallingnewInfiniBoxsystems—notrainingrequired.Forlower-levelautomation,allInfiniBoxfunctionalitycanalsobecontrolledusinganativenon-blockingRESTfulAPI,PythonSDK,andcommand-lineinterface(CLI),andAnsibleplaybooksareavailable.Forserver-drivenworkflows,INFINIDATHostPowerTools™3 andrelatedintegrationsareavailableforVMware,OpenStack,andmanyoperatingsystems.

SimplicityisalsoreflectedinINFINIDAT’sbusinesspractices.Allsystemsinclude24x7on-sitehardwareandsoftwaresupport,andsoftwarelicensesandpricingareall-inclusiveandpredicatedonusablecapacity.INFINIDAT’send-to-endsimplicityallowstoday’scompanies tofocusmoreresourcesoninnovationandlessonstorageinfrastructure.

INFINIDAT’s end-to-end simplicity allows today’s companies to focus more resources on innovation

and less on storage infrastructure.

3http://content.infinidat.com/host_powertools

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InfiniBox in an OpenStack EnvironmentOpenStackwasdesignedfromthebeginningtoofferaflexibleassortmentofservicesthatmaybedeployeddependingontheneedsoftheparticularenvironment.OneofthemajorstrengthsofInfiniBoxinOpenStackenvironmentsisthatitcaninteractwithavarietyoftheseservicesdependingonusecaseandarchitecturalpreferences.TypicalOpenStackservicesthatcanintegratewithInfiniBoxinclude:

•Blockstorage(Cinder):persistentblockstorageforvirtualmachineinstances

•Objectstorage(Swift):persistentstorageforunstructureddataviaHTTP-basedAPIs

•Compute(Nova):virtualmachineinstancecreationandmanagement

•Imageservice(Glance):discovery,registration,anddeliveryservicesfordiskandvirtualmachineimages

•Filestorage(Manila):persistentfile-basedstorageforvirtualmachineinstances

Severaloftheseintegrationsaredetailedlaterinthissection.

INFINIDAT Unified Storage Catering to all OpenStack Storage Needs

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Block Storage (Cinder)INFINIDATprovidesanativeOpenStackCinderblockstoragedriverforInfiniBoxwhichsupportsbothFibreChannelandiSCSIstorageconnectivity.ThisdriverprovidesallnecessaryCinderfunctionality,includingvolumemanagement,snapshotmanagement,migration,andmore.InfiniBoxCinderintegrationdirectlycapitalizesonthecapabilitiesandsimplicityoftheINFINIDATstoragearchitecture,unlikecompetitivesolutionswhichrequireongoingtiermanagement,carefulsnapshotplanning,andperformanceplanningduetolegacybackendstorageinfrastructures.ThesecapabilitiesareparticularlyimportantasworkloadschangeduringthegrowthofaCinderdeployment.

InadditiontotheINFINIDATCinderdriver,INFINIDAToffersanOpenStackcommand-lineinterface(CLI)utilitytosimplifyOpenStackconfiguration.InsteadofmanuallyeditingOpenStackconfigurationfiles,theadministratorjustneedstorunonesimplecommand:

# infini-openstack --commit volume-backend set <InfiniBox-IP> <Username> <Password> <Pool-Name>

OnceInfiniBoxstorageisaddedtotheCinderdeployment,CinderuserscanusestandardCindertoolstoprovisionandmanageInfiniBox-basedblockstorage,withoutdisruptingoverallstoragemanagementactivitiesortheactivitiesofotherInfiniBoxusersusingdifferentstoragepoolsonthesamesystem.

Object Storage (Swift)ManyclientsconsiderInfiniBoxfortheirOpenStackSwift(orotherobjectstorageenvironments)becauseitprovidescapabilitiesoftennotviewedaseconomicallyfeasibleinanobjectcontext—particularlyhighperformance(over1MIOPS)andhighresiliency(99.99999%availability)—withoutneedingtheattentionrequiredforbuild-it-yourselfsolutions.OpenStackSwiftcaneasilyconsumeInfiniBoxvolumeswithiSCSIorFCconnectivitytoSwiftStorageNodesrunningXFSfilesystems.

DRAMandflashcachelayersbuiltintoInfiniBoxprovidedramaticperformanceimprovementsforSwiftdeployments.Thereisnoneedtocarefullytuneorbalanceamixofdifferentstoragemediatoachieveoptimalperformance;theINFINIDATstoragearchitecturehandlesthatautomatically.Further,thesolutiondoesn’tneedtoincludelotsofexpensiveSSDsorall-flasharraystoachievegreatperformance.CapacityeconomicsarealsoimprovedformanyworkloadsthroughnativeInfiniBoxline-speeddatacompression.

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There is no need to carefully tune or balance a mix of different storage media to achieve optimal performance; the INFINIDAT storage architecture handles that automatically.

ShiftingprimaryresiliencyrequirementsfromtheSwiftlayertothebackendInfiniBoxplatformimprovesbothavailabilityandefficiency,eliminatingtheneedfor:

•InternalSwiftdatareplication,whichwastesstoragecapacityandmultipliesrequiredhardwaretoreachaparticularresiliencylevel,and

•Swifterasurecoding,whichrequiresmorepowerfulstoragecontrollerCPUsandtendstocompromiseperformance

Inaddition,InfiniBoxprovidesline-speeddata-at-restencryptionforsecurityandcorporategovernancerequirements.TypicalSwiftdeploymentsareunabletoprovidethatcapabilitywithoutcostlyorcomplicatedadd-ons.

Compute (Nova)EveryvirtualmachineinstancerunningonanOpenStackNovacomputeserverhasarootvolumeaswellasoptionalephemeral(nonpersistent)volumes,oftenunaccountedforinOpenStackstorageplanning.Inmanyinstallations,theseephemeralvolumesarestoredusinglocalstorageonthephysicalcomputenode.Withthisapproach,livemigrationforarunningVMmaytaketimeandimpactperformance,whenitworks;butbydefault,suchmigrationisnotsupportedatall:

# nova live-migration <guid> <second-cluster>

ERROR (BadRequest): <first-cluster> is not on shared storage:

Live migration can not be used without shared storage. (HTTP 400)

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SomeInfiniBoxcustomerswithOpenStackenvironmentsbootvirtualmachineswithrootdisksstoredoniSCSIorFibreChannel-connectedCindervolumes.However,it’salsopossibletouseInfiniBoxNFSvolumesforthispurpose.UsingInfiniBoxNFSsharedstorageforOpenStackvirtualmachinerootdisksprovidesseveralkeybenefitsthatcontributetoinfrastructureagility:

•Stateless compute hosts.Aslongastherearenovirtualmachineinstancesrunningonacomputehost,userscantakethathostofflineorwipeitcompletelywithoutaffectingtherestoftheOpenStackenvironment.

•Easier recovery from compute node failures.Ifacomputenodefails,virtualmachineinstancesareusuallyeasilyrecoverableastheirdataresidesontheInfiniBoxandnotonthecomputenode’slocalstorage.

• Simpler capacity provisioning and expansion.Withoutchanginghardwareconfigurationoranyotheraspectofthecomputenodes,itispossibletoseamlesslyprovisionandincreasethecapacityofVMrepositoriesstoredontheInfiniBox,eitherleveragingthesimpleInfiniBoxGUIorAPIsincludingPythonSDK.Further,built-inInfiniBoxcompressionoftenhelpsreduceoverallVMstoragerequirements.

•Faster performance.HighlyscalableInfiniBoxNAScapabilityprovidesoptimalperformanceleveragingDRAMandflashcachinglayerswithoutthecostofall-flashstorageorthecomplexityofmanuallycombiningdifferentstoragemedia.

•Live migration.WithInfiniBoxNAS,livemigrationdoesn’tinvolveanydatatransferacrosscomputenodes—aslongasthey’reusingthesamesharedInfiniBoxstorage.

Image Service (Glance)BasicOpenStackGlanceimageserversuselocalstorageonOpenStackcontrollernodes.However,similartoOpenStackNovaVMstorage,itispossibletouseInfiniBoxNFSmountstostoreGlanceimages.ThebenefitsareparalleltothoseexplainedpreviouslyforNova:simplifyingGlancecapacitymanagementscalability,removingtheneedtoplanseparateGlanceimagebackupandreplication,andtakingperformanceconcernsoutofthepicture.

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ConclusionCloudcomputingisfundamentallychangingtheeconomicsofIT,andopensourceplatformslikeOpenStackareleadingthecharge.TheadvantagesofOpenStackcannotbeunderstated,however,manyorganizationsfailtorealizethefullpotentialoftheirOpenStackinfrastructures—orevenfailtolaunchthematall—duetostorageconstraints.Build-it-yourselfinfrastructuresandtypicalbrandedvendorsolutionshavesignificantweaknessesformid-tolarge-scaleOpenStackdeployments,frombothtechnicalandbusinessperspectives.

INFINIDAT’sinnovativeInfiniBoxplatformaddressesthesechallengesandmore,withaparticularfocusonthemostcriticalchallengesforgrowingOpenStackstorageinfrastructures—simplicity,efficiency,andresiliency—allwithgame-changingeconomics.InfiniBoxcanbeeasilyintegratedintomajorOpenStackservices,includingCinderblockstorage,Swiftobjectstorage,andNovacomputeorchestration.

INFINIDATunderstandsthatstorageisthefoundationonwhichsuccessfulclouddeploymentsarebuilt.OuradvantagescombinetomakeINFINIDATanidealstrategicpartnertohelppowernext-generationOpenStackinfrastructures.ContactyourINFINIDATrepresentativetolearnmore.

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