At the recent Dell Storage Forum we were able to get a deeper dive than our prior briefings on the DX Object Storage system, which provides a platform for massive scalability in the cloud storage and compute market. The DX is built from standard Dell x86 rack mount servers that are optimized for storage. Clustered file storage, self-healing and scalability are provided by the powerful Caringo CAStor file system software. An HTTP REST API allows open, direct object store access.
Dell a storage startup?
Recent additions to the product line include a file access gateway, the DX 6000G, which provides CIFS and NFS support. As we covered in our recent Cloud Storage: Adoption, Practice and Deployment report, a gateway device is a good bridge between existing applications and an object store. This means that existing applications can obtain the same benefit from the object store as new applications can be developed in an HTTP and XML environment. Another feature is an out-of-data-stream control node that allows the development of policies for the content-aware management and placement of objects.
Two compute/storage node versions exist: a lightweight, 1U, four-drive bay node that provides up to 8TB (soon 12TB) of capacity and a 2U, 12-drive bay node that provides up to 24TB (soon 72TB) of storage. Drive options are near-line SAS of 500GB to 2TB capacities. Connectivity to each node is provided by two 1G Ethernet ports, with an optional expansion to four 1G Ethernet ports. RAID-1 provides data protection and the system provides self-healing capabilities that eliminate the need for additional data protection services. Minimum configuration is two nodes. Gateway and management nodes are optional.
While initially targeted at near-line storage, backup and archival uses, there is no reason that the system could not provide primary data with configuring of additional nodes as a way to provide additional throughput, capacity or both. The open API provides partners to develop additional capabilities such as elastic compute or enhanced storage placement. System expansion without the need of replacing any existing node is a huge advantage of the architecture.
The DX system is a flexible and low-cost platform for private and public cloud implementations. One can imagine many enhancements to both the REST API, storage density and features that will provide block gateway access in addition to file access.
