Software Defined Storage for Dummies

Software defined storage is a relatively new concept in the computing and storage industry and can refer to many different technologies and implementations. It is part of a larger industry trend that includes software defined networking (SDN) and software defined data centers (SDDC). This chapter explains exactly what software defined storage is.

At its most basic level, software defined storage is enterprise class storage that uses standard hardware with all the important storage and management functions performed in intelligent software. It delivers automated, policy-driven, application-aware storage services through orchestration of the underlining storage infrastructure in support of an overall software defined environment.

Enterprises today are recognizing many significant benefits of this storage in their data centers. These include increased flexibility, automated management, cost efficiency, and limitless scalability.

StorageEnterprises today are recognizing many significant benefits of software defined storage in their datacenters. These include increased flexibility, automated management, cost efficiency, and limitless scalability.Increased flexibility and agilityTraditional enterprise storage platforms such as SAN and NAS (discussed in Chapter 1) are typically based on proprietary systems and come with a high total cost of ownership (TCO). SAN solutions typically require the use of costly and complex SAN switches, storage arrays, and other proprietary components.These materials are © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Chapter 2: What Is Software Defined Storage?19NAS devices are relatively inexpensive but have limited scalability. When you run out of space on a NAS, you simply add more NAS devices. However, this isn’t a true scale-out capability because each individual NAS is presented as separate, standalone storage that’s separately managed.