This week, Chris and Martin debate the success of software-defined storage or SDS. Over the past 10-15 years, storage systems have evolved into a wide range of software solutions, appliances and cloud-based products. What has driven this move to focus entirely on software and what will the next stage of evolution be? Are we in a position where everything is based on software, in some form?

This discussion also touches on consumption models. Has SDS provided the catalyst for vendors to offer better subscription licences and consumption models? Is the writing on the wall for the traditional storage array?

Elapsed Time: 00:40:51

Timeline

* 00:00:00 – Intros* 00:00:55 – Intel H10 recap* 00:01:43 – Siri interrupts!* 00:03:34 – Has SDS been a quiet success?* 00:05:20 – The five phases of SDS evolution* 00:07:08 – What compatibility issues exist?* 00:07:40 – Phase 2 – bespoke SDS solutions* 00:10:14 – Phase 4 – Infrastructure abstraction* 00:11:50 – Phase 5 – Partnered solutions* 00:13:00 – Is it possible to defined SDS today?* 00:14:21 – PowerStore is SDS (not sold like that)* 00:15:20 – Some SDS packaging is a commercial decision* 00:17:00 – Many storage solutions will run as virtual & cloud instances* 00:19:00 – SDS has been around for many years in different forms* 00:21:30 – Is high-end storage (like PowerMax) SDS?* 00:23:10 – Where is SDS challenged?* 00:26:01 – Is Open Source the biggest challenger to commercial storage?* 00:29:39 – Where will SDS go in the future? * 00:30:04 – Will SmartNICs affect the development of SDS?* 00:32:30 – Do purchasing models need to change for SDS?* 00:36:00 – Vendors may need to rewrite their software* 00:37:00 – Does SDS need to be more “data aware”?* 00:39:00 – Wrap Up

Related Podcasts & Blogs

* #156 – Introduction to Hammerspace* #148 – Unpacking HPE’s Storage Strategy* #141 – Building Storage Systems of the Future* Storage Predictions for 2021 and Beyond (Part III – SDS)* Will TCO Drive Software Defined Storage?* ScaleIO Becomes Software Defined on Hardware

Vendors & products referenced in this podcast:

Nexenta, OpenFiler, FreeNAS/TrueNAS, VMware, NetApp, Isilon, HPE (Primera & 3PAR), Dell PowerStore, Pure StorageCeph, OpenEBS, Rook, Weka, StorageOS, Portworx, Hedvig, Hammerspace, StoreONE, Backblaze, Wasabi, AWS S3,LizardFS, Gluster, GPFS, Spectrum Scale, SVC, PowerMax, Hitachi, Nimble Storage, Red Hat, NVIDIA, Komprise, Qumulo

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