June 26, 2019

#106 – Introduction to VAST Data (Part II) with Howard Marks (Sponsored)

21 minutes

In this second episode on VAST Data, Chris and Martin continue the discussion with Howard Marks. You can find the previous episode at #105 – Introduction to VAST Data (Part I). This time, the conversation continues where the discussion left off, with Howard finishing the explanation of wide striping.

To explain exactly how data is accessed on the platform, Howard introduces the concept of v-trees. These are like b-trees but flatter and wider. The v-tree is used to hold both metadata and data. One interesting aspect of the discussion is in understanding exactly how Optane and QLC are used. As data is written, Optane acts as a write cache but doesn’t need to immediately be flushed, as would happen in traditional systems. Instead, the VAST platform can take time to destage to QLC when appropriate, adding time for data reduction tasks to take place.

Howard wraps up the conversation with some detail on use cases, which at this stage are focused on “data intensive” applications. In time this will expand to meet traditional enterprises too. Roadmap items include SMB, snapshots and replication.

You can find more information the VAST Data platform at www.vastdata.com. Follow VAST Data and Howard on Twitter.

Elapsed Time: 00:21:18

Timeline

* 00:00:00 – Intros

* 00:00:43 – Continuing the data layout discussion

* 00:02:58 – V-Trees – metadata and data

* 00:05:00 – Data placement based on type, gaming the system?

* 00:08:40 – What performance can customers expect?

* 00:11:00 – Does it make sense to add block protocols to VAST Data?

* 00:12:30 – What are the deployment models, SDS, appliance?

* 00:15:00 – Still evolutionary, Martin? Revolutionary pricing?

* 00:16:48 – Now we know the technology, what are the use cases?