OpenStack Object Storage (code-named Swift) is open source software for creating redundant, scalable object storage using clusters of standardized servers to store petabytes of accessible data. It is not a file system or real-time data storage system, but rather a long-term storage system for a more permanent type of static data that can be retrieved, leveraged, and then updated if necessary. Primary examples of data that best fit this type of storage model are virtual machine images, photo storage, email storage and backup archiving. Having no central "brain" or master point of control provides greater scalability, redundancy and permanence.
Objects are written to multiple hardware devices in the data center, with the OpenStack software responsible for ensuring data replication and integrity across the cluster. Storage clusters can scale horizontally by adding new nodes. Should a node fail, OpenStack works to replicate its content from other active nodes. Because OpenStack uses software logic to ensure data replication and distribution across different devices, inexpensive commodity hard drives and servers can be used in lieu of more expensive equipment.
OpenStack Object Storage - Essex Release
Released April 5, 2012. Release Notes
Documentation: Online Manuals
OpenStack Object Storage "Folsom" planned for Q4 2012.
Developer editions of Object Storage are available on the OpenStack Launchpad. There's also developer documentation available.
The features below are available in the current release.
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
|
Store and Manage files programmatically via API |
Automates resource management/provisioning |
|
Create Public or Private containers |
Better control. Allows to share data publicly or keep it private |
|
Leverages Commodity hardware |
No lock-in, lower price/GB |
|
HDD/node failure agnostic |
Self healing |
|
Unlimited Storage |
Huge & flat namespace, highly scalable read/write access |
|
Multi-dimensional scalability (scale out architecture) Allows to scale vertically and horizontally-Distributed storage |
Backup/Archive large amounts of data with linear performance |
|
Account/Container/Object structure |
Optimized for scale |
|
Built-in Replication |
High Availability |
|
Easily add capacity unlike RAID resize |
Elastic data scaling with ease |
|
No central database |
Higher performance, No bottlenecks |
|
RAID not required |
Allows to handle lots of small, random reads and writes efficiently |
|
Built-in Mgmt. utilities |
Acct. Management: Create, add, verify, delete users Container Management: upload, download, verify Monitoring: Capacity, Host, Network, Log trawling, cluster health |
|
Drive auditing |
Allows to detect drive failures preempting data corruption |
|
VNC Proxy through web browser |
Quick and easy CLI administration |
The features below are planned for future releases.
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
|
Improved Client IP Logging |
Allows granular tracking and auditing for Intrusion detection and protection |
|
Transaction ID headers (Diablo v1.4.0 05/31 – Implemented) |
Better control over data handling |
|
Auto Account Create (Diablo 1.4.1 06/20 - Implemented) |
Option to automate account creation for authorized requests…saving time |
|
Option for Replication (Diablo Approved TBD) |
no replica will be in the same zone as another replica unless there is no other choice |
|
Multi cluster container syncing (Diablo v1.4.2 TBD – In progress) |
High availability |
|
Multi-region support (Future – Not Started) |
True High availability |
|
Multi-tenant accounting (Pending Approval) |
Helps service providers support, track, audit, authorize customer resources |
|
Client Bindings (Pending Approval) |
Higher performance and less data footprint |
|
Compression options (Pending Approval) |
Faster Access/transfer, Reduced disk space |
|
Large Single Uploads (Pending Approval) |
Allows to upload/store files greater than 5GB |
|
Self-destructing files (Pending Approval) |
Policy based file management |
|
Native Tiny URLs (Pending Approval) |
Easy addressing, Great for links on the go, Bookmarking, reduces friction from customers to click external links |
|
Search Service (Pending Approval) |
Allows to search objects and containers by names and metadata |
|
Improved Ring-Builder (Pending Approval) |
Allows to automate addition of large capacity to a storage cluster |
|
SNIA CDMI Support (Pending Approval) |
Offers compatibility SNIA standard |
|
SNIA CDMI Support (Pending Approval) |
Offers compatibility SNIA standard |