Blue Box Brings Cloud Storage, Database and Networking Capabilities

Blue Box Group, Inc. adds a slew of product updates including block storage and OpenStack database as a service (DBaaS) options and networking and security capabilities including VXLAN and enhanced dedicated firewall support to the Blue Box private cloud as a service (PCaaS) solution.

Working with industry partners, Blue Box offers commercial
availability for five enhancements:

• Dedicated object storage based on OpenStack object storage (Swift)

• Dedicated adaptive flash storage based on OpenStack Block Storage (Cinder) powered by Nimble Storage, Inc.

• OpenStack Trove DBaaS powered by Tesora, Inc.

• Dedicated firewall options powered by Juniper Networks, Inc.

• Virtual networking support inside of each Blue Box cloud implementation.

Dedicated OpenStack Object Storage
Blue Box announced availability of a dedicated object storage solution, based on OpenStack object storage (Swift). Blue Box’s OpenStack object storage solution starts at 20TB of usable object storage capacity and can be increased in 6.5TB increments.

Dedicated OpenStack block storage powered by Nimble Storage
Blue Box has selected the Nimble adaptive flash platform as the core foundation of its dedicated block storage solution, based on OpenStack Cinder. The feature is for workloads that include performance databases, high I/O, random R/W and VM boot volumes.

Block storage is a key element of cloud infrastructure for many customers. With Nimble’s adaptive flash platform, Blue Box offers storage services with a feature set that includes snapshots and zero-copy clones.

Blue Box’s OpenStack block storage solutions start at 12TB of raw storage capacity and include a 640GB flash cache tier and redundant 10bE ports. Storage capacity and performance can be increased as customer requirements change.

Blue Box cloud currently includes the Nimble CS300 array as the base block storage foundation of its service offering, with future support planned for additional models, data in-place upgrades and clustering. The Blue Box engineering team selected the CS300 array because it offers optimized convergence of modularity, scalability and i/ops performance, delivering price/performance relative to alternative offerings.

OpenStack Trove DBaaS powered by Tesora
DBaaS is a solution more users demand as their use of cloud matures and the number and types of apps supported grow. Partnering with Tesora, Blue Box launched DBaaS functionality powered by OpenStack Trove. This platform lets administrators and developers use the same infrastructure to manage multiple database instances.

With Blue Box Cloud’s DBaaS capability, users can manage basic administrative tasks like provisioning, deployment and configuration, as well as database tuning and monitoring through a unified interface. The platform gives users the range of database management capabilities they need in an OpenStack environment without the challenges of scaling the database infrastructure. Supported databases include MySQL, MongoDB, Redis and Cassandra.

Security enhancements powered by Juniper Networks
Blue Box released availability of two features for Blue Box Cloud: a physical firewall option and support for customer controlled virtual networking.

Blue Box has implemented technology from Juniper  to power these new networking enhancements. Firewall solutions include base, enhanced options built using SRX Series Services Gateways, designed to meet the capacity and security needs of customers of all sizes. It is offering a range of SRX platforms oday and is evaluating Firefly, Juniper’s virtualized SRX application for additional flexibility.

Blue Box is announcing virtual networking support inside of each Blue Box cloud implementation. This will enable customers to define their own virtual Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks in their OpenStack environment, allowing for complex application and security architecture.

“The Blue Box core value proposition revolves around reliable, rapidly deployed private cloud as a service that lets our customers focus on developing apps and delighting their customers, not running infrastructure. To that end, we are constantly seeking out best of breed technologies and partners that complement and enhance our private cloud services, and great companies like Tesora, Nimble and Juniper fit perfectly within our strategic roadmap.” said Hernan Alvarez, chief product officer, Blue Box.

“Customers want flexible, efficient and high-performance storage solutions. Offering these integrated capabilities in a private cloud as a service offering is unique, and Blue Box has delivered it in partnership with Nimble. Our tight integration with OpenStack combined with the scale, performance and simplicity of the Nimble Adaptive Flash platform make it an ideal fit for the unique value Blue Box is delivering to its customers,” said Gavin Cohen, senior director strategy and market development, Nimble.

“Adding Trove database as a Service to private cloud as a service is a visionary move, and Blue Box wins for getting there first. Like us, Blue Box is deeply engaged in the OpenStack community and software development process, so customers who choose Blue Box cloud will know that they are getting two companies who know OpenStack well and have the proven solution to deliver it,” said Ken Rugg, CEO, Tesora.