OSNEXUS QuantaStor SDS Enables Global Namespaces for ZFS Scale-out Software Defined Storage

by Lauren Grob

BELLEVUE, Wash., April 10th, 2017 -- OSNEXUS, the leading developer of Software-Defined Storage (SDS) solutions, today announced the addition of Global Namespaces for QuantaStor SDS. Global Namespaces simplify NAS storage management and increase end-user productivity by combining shares into easy-to-access groups that are accessible across a storage grid of appliances.

“High-growth, geographically-distributed storage environments make it increasingly difficult for users to manage their data. That reduces an organization’s agility and slows productivity” said Steven Umbehocker, CEO of OSNEXUS. “With QuantaStor, users get the performance benefits, high-availability, and ease of use that come with Global Namespaces without having to suffer from the latency and network costs that come with typical scale-out NAS solutions.”

QuantaStor implements Global Namespaces using Microsoft DFS and NFSv4 referral technologies to redirect SMB and NFS clients to network shares on specific appliances. The QuantaStor grid and highly-available (HA) storage pool technologies work together so that storage grids can deliver consistent performance, accessibility, and reliability as an environment scales. This effectively transforms the scale-up nature of the OpenZFS technology that QuantaStor utilizes into a scale-out technology. The technique eliminates performance impacts of spindle contention and multiple network hops that scale-out NAS appliances suffer from. With grid scalability to 64 appliances, QuantaStor storage grids can combine any number of network shares into any number of unique Global Namespaces so that finding and accessing storage is made simple.

QuantaStor SDS Global Namespace Highlights:

Ideal for Multiple Workflows including Biosciences, Media Post-Production, and Energy Research – Global Namespaces allow IT managers to distribute files in a way that achieves the best performance and capacity utilization per system.

Available Across Geographies – Researchers, artists, editors and producers are able to access their digital assets via a single, logical namespace, across geographically dispersed storage systems.

Increased Efficiency – Global Namespaces reduce human error, improve productivity, and streamline workflows enabling storage administrators to accomplish more at a lower cost while eliminating complexity.

Grid Technology – QuantaStor grid technology redirects NFS/SMB connections dynamically, enabling storage grids to span global data centers and allow hyperscale NAS to over 64 PB per grid.