By: Steven J.Vaughan-Nichols
Translated by: Sambodhi
Edited by: Tina
Introduction:
Ceph, a storage solution that began as a student project at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has blossomed into a globally adopted storage solution.At the OpenInfra Summit Asia in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, Dan van der Ster, CTO of CLYSO and member of the Ceph executive committee, revealed that 82% of open infrastructure users reported using Ceph for data storage in 2023. This remarkable journey began with Sage Weil’s doctoral research, where he created the Ceph File System (CephFS), initially a 40,000-line C++ code project.
Early Support and Vision:
From the outset, Ceph received crucial support from key institutions. From 2003 to2007, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Los Alamos National Laboratory backed Weil’s early work. The goal was to create a horizontally scalable, object-based file system for data center-scale high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.
Edge Intelligence:
Weil’s approach was innovative. Instead of focusing on managing a multitude of dumb disks, he envisioned pushing more intelligence to the edge. Furthermore, the design emphasized building a consistent and reliable storage system, avoiding single points of failure. These principles set Ceph apart from other storage solutions of the time, such as Lustre, Google File System (GFS), and Parallel Virtual File System (PVFS).
Key Features:
Ceph’s unique features contributed to its success:
- Distributed Object Storage: Ceph was designed as a distributed object storage system from the ground up, named Reliable Autonomic Distributed Object Storage(RADOS), rather than a traditional file system. This allowed it to scale to larger storage capacities across multiple nodes.
- Data and Metadata Decoupling: Ceph separated the management of file metadata from the storage of file data. This allowed metadata and data operations to be handled independently, enhancingscalability.
- Dynamic Distributed Metadata Management: Ceph employed a novel approach called Dynamic Subtree Partitioning (DSP), which adaptively distributes metadata management across servers. This enabled the system to scale metadata performance proportionally as it expanded.
- CRUSH Algorithm: Ceph introduced the Controlled Replication UnderScalable Hashing (CRUSH) algorithm for deterministically placing data within the cluster. This eliminated the need for a centralized data allocation table.
Conclusion:
Ceph’s journey from a student project to a widely adopted storage solution highlights the power of innovation and collaboration. Its focus on edge intelligence, distributed object storage, and dynamic metadata management has made it a leading choice for organizations seeking scalable and reliable storage solutions. As the demand for edge computing continues to grow, Ceph’s innovative approach will likely play an even more significant role in shaping the future of data storage.
References:
Views: 0