This week Chris and Martin catch up with Phil Straw, CEO at Softiron for a discussion on packaging Open Source storage solutions for adoption by the enterprise. Softiron sells a software appliance based on Ceph which has been tuned to deliver high performance with high efficiency. So, exactly how do vendors go about making Open Source more consumable without breaking the values of Open Source software development?

This discussion is interesting as it highlights both the benefits of marrying hardware and software, while working within the constraints of a community software solution. Rather than simply test, Softiron look at the code and work out the right way to make Ceph work efficiently. Of course, every enterprise could do the same thing, but typically this task was covered by the vendor.

You can find more on Softiron at www.softiron.com.

Elapsed Time: 00:36:09

Timeline

* 00:00:00 – Intros * 00:01:30 – How can we package Open Source storage software? * 00:02:30 – Is there a gap in open source and enterprise expectations? * 00:06:00 – Where do Open Source storage ideas come from? * 00:07:30 – Softiron brings an “enterprise” experience to Ceph * 00:08:45 – Open source adoption often means just testing * 00:11:40 – Is the enterprise capable of managing open source? * 00:13:00 – How do you adopt a software product with little code control* 00:16:00 – HyperDrive is built to be a storage solution * 00:18:15 – Ceph is not forked* 00:20:00 – How can Softiron ensure Ceph heads the right direction * 00:24:30 – Storage is becoming more important again * 00:28:00 – Lock-in occurs in many ways, not purely technological * 00:29:00 – How can a vendor like Softiron protect their IP? * 00:32:45 – Always ask how you will exit using a product * 00:34:30 – What is HyperDrive? * 00:35:10 – Wrap Up

Related Podcasts & Blogs

* #41 – Does Open Source Have a Place in Storage?* #46 – Another View on Open Source Storage with Neil Levine* #130 – Making Money in the Storage Business

Copyright (c) 2016-2020 Storage Unpacked. No reproduction or re-use without permission. Podcast episode #504n.