SUSE Enterprise Storage 2 to Bring Ceph-Based Storage to Any OS

SUSE LLC. announced the availability of company’s Enterprise Storage 2, the latest version of its self-managing, self-healing, distributed software-based storage solution for enterprise customers.

SUSE Enterprise Storage 2 is the first and only Ceph-based solution with heterogeneous OS support, giving customers the ability to deploy software-defined storage with less cost. SUSE is also collaborating with partners to bring SUSE Enterprise Storage to devices powered by 64-bit ARM technology.

“Software-defined storage promises to change the economics of enterprise storage infrastructures,” said Roger Cox, VP, research, data center convergence, Gartner. “Software-defined storage addresses the complexity associated with legacy-branded integrated ECB (external controller-based) storage by delivering flexibility, simplicity and lower TCO.” ^(*)

Powered by Ceph, SUSE Enterprise Storage 2 is a scalable and resilient software-based storage solution that enables organizations to build cost-efficient storage using commodity off-the-shelf servers and disk drives. SUSE Enterprise Storage 2 supports iSCSI in multipath configurations, enabling block storage across OSs and environments including Linux, Unix and Windows. Version 2 adds at-rest data encryption to increase security for physical assets.

“SUSE’s leadership as the first to provide heterogeneous OS support is an indicator of our commitment to solving issues customers actually face,” said Ralf Flaxa, VP, engineering, SUSE. “With the majority of enterprises planning to adopt software-defined storage in the next few years, it is emerging as the method of choice for companies looking for cost-effective, enterprise-grade storage. SUSE Enterprise Storage provides the best of the Ceph project, tested and supported for enterprise customers.“

SUSE engineers worked with independent server manufacturer Thomas-Krenn.AG to develop a series of thoroughly tested, cost-effective turnkey software-defined storge appliances for midmarket customers. From entry level to performance or capacity-optimized solutions, Enterprise Storage 2 combined with Thomas-Krenn’s hardware gives customers more choice and flexibility.

Dr. David Hoeflmayr, CEO, Thomas-Krenn.AG, said: “More and more midmarket companies recognize the value of software-defined storage as a remedy for their exploding storage costs, so we are excited about the opportunity to be the first to market with a series of SDS appliances based on SUSE Enterprise Storage 2.“

SUSE Enterprise Storage is available as an option with SUSE OpenStack Cloud or as a stand-alone storage solution.

Partner collaboration on ARM for SUSE Enterprise Storage
SUSE is collaborating with several partners to bring Enterprise Storage to devices powered by 64-bit ARM technology. This collaboration brings hardware-platform choice for software-defined storage to enterprise and hyper-scale customers. Partners expect to ship solutions in the first quarter of 2016.

Gopal Hegde, VP and GM, data center processor group, Cavium, Inc., said: “Cavium is pleased to work with SUSE and our joint partner, StackVelocity, a business unit of Jabil Inc., to validate and optimize SUSE Enterprise Storage on ThunderX, Cavium’s 48-core ARMv8-based Workload Optimized Processor for next-generation data centers and cloud. Cavium and SUSE have been collaborating since 2014 to ensure that cloud applications such as Ceph running on SUSE seamlessly integrate with and are optimized for ThunderX SOC. StackVelocity is delivering industry-leading hyperscale server platforms based on ThunderX. The joint development between Cavium, SUSE and StackVelocity will result in solutions which perform and scale well for both enterprise and hyperscale environments.“

Norman Fraser , CEO, SoftIron, Inc., said: “The ARMv8 platform from AMD represents a unique opportunity to build scalable and power-conscious storage solutions, so SoftIron has been working with SUSE to validate the 64-bit ARM platform from AMD for Ceph storage deployments. Our efforts with SUSE involve collaborative testing and tuning activities as we work to provide a solution that is ready for businesses of any size.”

Dan Fitzpatrick , VP, StackVelocity, Inc., said: “StackVelocity is pleased to collaborate with SUSE to validate SUSE Enterprise Storage on 64-bit ARM solutions from Cavium. SUSE has shown consistent engineering excellence through our joint design and testing of this architecture. The result will be the delivery of integrated large-scale solutions with predictable performance.“

SUSE distinguished engineer Lars Marowsky-Brée appointed to Ceph advisory board
The company also announced that distinguished engineer Lars Marowsky-Brée will serve as company’s initial representative on the recently announced Ceph Advisory Board. The board, which includes Ceph community members, was formed to create a framework of expertise, leadership and mentoring to increase participation, growth and diversity in the development, testing and infrastructure of the Ceph Project. While not promoting specific downstream commercial solutions, the board does promote awareness and adoption of Ceph technology and provide information on relevant industry developments to Ceph Project technical leadership. SUSE is a founding member of the board.

^(*) Gartner, Market Trends: Block-and-File Software-Defined Storage, Roger W. Cox, 31 August 2015.