The Ceph Community, a Red Hat, Inc., sponsored worldwide collection of developers working to build the popular Ceph software-defined storage project, today announced the first implementation of an innovative large-scale Ceph storage cluster environment. This cost-effective, energy-efficient four watt converged microserver, developed by WDLabs, a business growth incubator of storage solutions leader Western Digital Corporation, is the first demonstrated solution offering true flexibility of applications executing on a microserver.

As the enterprise expands into cloud architecture and scale-out systems, it is becoming increasingly important to have hardware profiles that match specific needs and designs. The large scale Ceph storage cluster demonstration using 504 WDLabs converged microservers allows users to load any operating system and software on the device, enabling Ceph storage to run directly on the drive. Testing conducted by WDLabs showed that implementation of the server can also reduce costs when building out future Ceph storage and Red Hat application clusters.

This self-contained design is an ideal match for Ceph’s scale-out architecture. The Ceph object storage daemon (OSD) fits on each microserver, creating a flat parallel space. The microserver architecture is designed to localize the problem if a server is ever lost without impacting the entire rack of JBOD drives.

Super Micro Computer, Inc., a global leader in high-performance, high-efficiency server, storage technology and green computing solutions, contributed their open-source based total solutions expertise to this collaborative effort, providing specialized chassis for disaggregated storage, core servers and networking. This collaboration among industry leaders is a strong example of the depth and breadth of the Ceph community.

Development and demonstration of the WDLabs converged microserver is a step forward for the Ceph community. This demonstrates the enthusiasm of market leaders to work together to develop innovative solutions for real business challenges, and to facilitate revolutionary change in the storage industry.