Most storage start-ups today are software focused. They create a storage solution out of software and then either leverage off the shelf storage hardware or allow the customers to build the rest of the solution themselves. The software first approach to storage solution development means lower startup costs and generally quicker time to market, which keeps investors happy.
The problem with this software first approach is that an increasing number of data centers don’t have the time to “build it themselves”, they continue to need a turnkey storage solution. At the same time, these storage software developers don’t have the time to add every feature possible as well as design their own hardware. The hardware that these software vendors select is critical to the overall market success of the solution.
We may live in a “software defined” world but that software still needs hardware to execute. SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference (SDC) is where storage software and hardware developers can meet, learn and build relationships to solve these challenges.
How Hardware Selection Impacts Software Definition
Software defined storage vendors can be greatly impacted by the hardware that they select to integrate to make their software a solution. The importance of hardware selection is made dramatically clear when we talk about server side storage networks. These software solutions are very dependent on the amount of and type of hardware they are partnered with. One of the most obvious components is what type of processors are available in those hosts. It may make sense for the server side network vendors to take the next step and deliver a converged solution that provides turnkey storage services as well as hosting VMs.
What about the actual storage? You can’t create physical storage out of software. Companies like Seagate are providing a full compliment of flash and hard disk based storage hardware for the software defined vendor to consider. Another example is should the SDS vendor use PCIe or SAS based flash storage? And how much of it should they use and what are the attributes of the flash solution selected?
Most server side storage networks run on the same compute servers that the applications do. The storage on those servers is often aggregated to create a virtual pool of storage. The performance of the network between these servers becomes critical as the server side network scales but this inter-network is often overlooked. Storage software vendors should look to companies with advanced networking technologies to allow them to truly scale in a linear fashion. SDC sponsor Mellanox, is an excellent example of a company that can provide this interconnectivity.
Proving Your Claims
Another area that storage developers struggle with is how to prove that their solutions will perform up to expectations. After all there is no agreed to universal standard for testing and benchmarking storage solutions today. While most vendors try to do the best job they can to report on the performance capabilities of their systems, they often end up publishing performance metrics that have no substantive value in a real data center environment. Another SDC sponsor, LoadDynamix, is a company that can capture real world workload I/O and then replay that I/O on other storage systems to help IT planners determine how well a particular storage platform will perform under production workloads. It can also be used to determine how well that same storage system will perform as it scales out to manage additional workloads. This helps IT planners make informed decisions on solutions before committing to a purchase.
Storage Swiss Take
One of the best parts of the SDC is the interaction between the attendees and of course the sponsors. It is often from these conversations that storage solutions are enhanced. Of course interaction is just part of the appeal to SDC; another appealing area are the sessions themselves. Featuring one of the most technical and substance rich tracks in the industry, this is a conference where smart storage folks become smarter. More on the presentations we are most looking forward to in our next blog.
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George Crump is the Chief Marketing Officer at VergeIO, the leader in Ultraconverged Infrastructure. Prior to VergeIO he was Chief Product Strategist at StorONE. Before assuming roles with innovative technology vendors, George spent almost 14 years as the founder and lead analyst at Storage Switzerland. In his spare time, he continues to write blogs on Storage Switzerland to educate IT professionals on all aspects of data center storage. He is the primary contributor to Storage Switzerland and is a heavily sought-after public speaker. With over 30 years of experience designing storage solutions for data centers across the US, he has seen the birth of such technologies as RAID, NAS, SAN, Virtualization, Cloud, and Enterprise Flash. Before founding Storage Switzerland, he was CTO at one of the nation's largest storage integrators, where he was in charge of technology testing, integration, and product selection.
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