Make the Best Choice between Hybrid Cloud NAS Architectures Organizations of all sizes want to incorporate the cloud as part of their networked attached storage (NAS) strategy. Using hybrid cloud NAS solutions, they obtain the performance of on- premises storage with the virtually unlimited scalability of cloud storage. However, not all organizations have the same file storage needs. This has resulted in the emergence of at least three hybrid cloud NAS architectures to meet these various organizational needs. Hybrid Cloud NAS Architectures Hybrid cloud NAS providers make their solutions available in one or more of the following three configurations for the on- premises portion of the solution. Physical Storage Appliance An organization acquires a pre-integrated hybrid cloud NAS hardware appliance equipped with the needed hardware and software. The vendor may provide the appliance or sell it through an OEM such as Cisco, Dell, Lenovo, or HPE. An organization installs it, connects it to a cloud storage provider, and configures its file management policies. Organizations will find multiple providers that each offer multiple physical storage appliance models in this space. Examples of solutions that organizations should consider include: CTERA HC and XC Series iXsystems TrueNAS M, R, and X-Series IBM FlashSystem Qumulo P-Series StorONE All-Flash Array.next Tintri IntelliFlash H, T, and N-Series Virtual Storage Appliance In this configuration, a provider ships its NAS solution as a virtual appliance. This virtual appliance installs as a virtual machine (VM) on a physical machine with a hypervisor (Microsoft HyperV, VMware vSphere, etc.). Some virtual appliances can also deploy to a dedicated server without a separate hypervisor. Once installed, an organization allocates storage, new or pre-existing, to the VM. It then connects the hybrid cloud NAS to a cloud storage provider and configures the file management policies. Here again, organizations will find multiple providers each with a virtual storage appliance offering. Examples of solutions that organizations should consider include: Nasuni Edge Appliance Scality RING Veritas InfoScale NAS Software Bridge Using this option, a provider ships hybrid cloud NAS software that installs on a new or pre-existing virtual or physical server. An organization first connects the software bridge to a cloud storage provider and configures its file management policies. An organization completes the bridge’s setup by connecting it to a new or pre-existing NAS solution. Like the other two architectures, organizations will find multiple providers each with a NAS software bridge offering. Examples of solutions that organizations should consider include: DataCore Software vFilO Tiger Technology Tiger Bridge Veritas InfoScale The Important Differentiator The NAS software bridge option differs in an important way from the physical and virtual appliance deployment options. It connects to and augments an on-premises NAS appliance. It may be a new on-premises NAS appliance; an existing one; or both new and existing NAS appliances. Further, a NAS software bridge should work with any provider’s NAS appliance. This gives organizations flexibility to use any NAS appliance such as a Windows file server, a virtual software appliance, or a specific provider’s NAS appliance. Finally, a NAS software bridge deploys more easily into an existing NAS environment. A NAS software bridge effectively converts an existing on-premises NAS appliance into a hybrid cloud NAS solution. As a result, applications and end users will neither see any changes nor will an organization need to make any changes to them. Make the Best Choice Your budget, current environment, and objectives will drive the choice between these three hybrid cloud NAS architectures. Use these three guidelines when making your choice. If implementing hybrid cloud NAS for the first time on- premises that has no pre-existing infrastructure, a physical storage appliance often makes the most sense. If running a largely virtual environment where you already own storage infrastructure, look to select a virtual storage appliance. Organizations with a pre-existing physical storage appliance that want to move to a hybrid environment should consider a NAS software bridge. Taking this approach, they can non-disruptively and cost-effectively introduce hybrid cloud NAS into their environment. DCIG Newsletter DCIG covers developments in enterprise cloud, data storage, and data protection. If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for the weekly DCIG Newsletter so that DCIG may keep you informed of these ongoing developments. DDN Cross-pollination Strategy Benefits HPC and Enterprise Customers In a recent interview, James Coomer, Senior Vice President for Products at DDN Storage, revealed how the largest private storage company in the world is now bringing its HPC expertise to the enterprise, and enterprise features to HPC. DDN Expands From HPC into the Enterprise through Acquisitions DDN is a dominant storage provider for high-performance computing (HPC) environments. As such, DDN has developed a deep understanding of HPC workloads and their demands on storage at scale. While many enterprises are just now passing the petabyte-scale storage threshold, DDN has deep experience with high-performance computing environments at massive scale. DDN is now bringing this infrastructure expertise to the enterprise. As enterprises grew more interested in HPC and AI, DDN grew more interested in enterprises. Its acquisition of Tintri, Nexenta, and IntelliFlash gave it an entry into thousands of enterprises and the enterprise infrastructure ecosystem. The acquisitions also brought into DDN some of the most advanced AIOps technology in enterprise storage. DDN has embarked on a purposeful cross-pollination of capabilities across all its storage systems. Strategic Cross-pollination Photo byRobert Woeger on Unsplash The overall theme of our conversation was cross-pollination. I asked how DDN is achieving this cross-pollination. James said that part of it is just DDN’s culture. Also, DDN has gradually integrated the engineering teams to operate as a single engineering group across all software platforms under one leader. DDN’s pre-acquisition products remain under the DDN brand. The acquired enterprise products are being marketed under the Tintri brand. Each product line retains dedicated product management, but as much as possible, DDN is leveraging engineering across the platforms. DDN’s EXAScaler gains enterprise data services, storage analytics and improved management simplicity. Tintri enterprise products gain proven all-NVMe controllers and scalable, high-density storage. Multiple Storage Solutions, One Hardware Platform DDN is using the same hardware platform under all its storage solutions. The controller is an all-NVMe, 24-drive, 2RU, dual- controller appliance; the same one DDN uses for EXAScaler. Tintri announced new IntelliFlash and VMstore models based on this controller on October 20. The new IntelliFlash H-series uses this controller. Thus, IntelliFlash now supports 192TB of NVMe flash in the head unit. Back to the Future The original IntelliFlash products were hybrid storage. They used multiple non-volatile memory technologies and intelligent caching algorithms in front of capacity provided by hard disk drives in storage shelves. The IntelliFlash H-series is a return to that hybrid storage model. IntelliFlash H-Series for Scale-up Hybrid NAS Tintri IntelliFlash H-Series arrays provide nearly 5x the capacity of prior IntelliFlash products. Scalable capacity is provided by using DDN’s existing high-density storage shelves. Up to four of these 4RU, 90-bay SAS HDD expansion shelves can be attached, providing nearly 7 PB raw capacity at 405 TB per rack unit. IntelliFlash multiplies this raw capacity through inline compression and deduplication. IntelliFlash now incorporates Nextanta’s NAS stack to offer enterprise-class NAS capabilities. Thus, IntelliFlash competes with Isilon and NetApp for multi-petabyte environments, with solid tiering and data efficiency technologies and broad integration with the enterprise ecosystem. Tintri VMstore for Intelligent Scale-out Infrastructure Tintri VMstore new top model also offers up to 192TB NVMe in 2RU, scaling out (not up) to about 5 PB. VMstore’s focus is on automated infrastructure for VM, VDI, SQL Server, and containerized workloads. DDN EXAScaler for HPC DDN is bringing the Tintri storage workload metrics, cloud- analytics, and UI to EXAScaler. EXAScaler is also gaining snapshots and other enterprise data services. EXAScaler growth is being driven by adoption in the enterprise, including life sciences and autonomous vehicles. For example, NVIDIA SuperPods all include EXAScaler storage. The focus on ease of integration and base-line enterprise data services has been a key for DDN to bring EXAScaler into the enterprise. Cross-pollination Benefits All Stakeholders In summary, DCIG believes that DDN and its customers will realize real benefits from cross-pollinating across product lines. The acquired products (Tintri, NexentaStor, IntelliFlash) have all gained a stable parent in DDN. DDN has gained insight into enterprise requirements and some enabling technologies. The company also achieves efficiency of scale and a simplified supplier pipeline by standardizing on a single hardware platform. Tintri enterprise products gain proven all-NVMe controllers and scalable, high-density storage. DDN’s EXAScaler gains enterprise data services,