Presentation given at Storage Networking World, Spring 2009 (Orlando)

1. April 6-9, 2009 | Rosen Shingle Creek Resort | Orlando, Florida

2. XAM: A Next Generation
April 6-9, 2009
Rosen Shingle
Creek Resort
Orlando, Florida
API for the Cloud
Mark A. Carlson
SNIA Technical Council and Sun Microsystems, Inc.
mac@sun.com
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3. Agenda
• Cloud use cases, requirements
April 6-9, 2009
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• The Storage Industry Resource
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Domain Model
• Next generation Data Storage
Interfaces
• XAM as it applies to the Cloud
• Get involved
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4. Cloud Storage: use cases
and requirements
• Store my file and give me back a URL (i.e. Amazon S3)
– Best Effort Quality of Service?
April 6-9, 2009
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• Provision a filesystem and mount it (i.e. WebDAV)
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– Quality of Service specification via provisioning interface
• Give me Filesystems/LUNs for my Cloud Computing
– NAS box in the cloud…
• Store my backup files until I need them back
– Maybe offer me a local cache as well
• Archive my files in the Cloud for Preservation/Compliance
– Maybe offer me eDiscovery services, “tape in the mail” retrieval
• Store all my files, allowing me to set the Data
Requirements, let me cache and distribute geographically
– Policy driven Data Services based on Data System Metadata
markings
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5. Data Storage Interface
• The model includes all these
elements which may or may
not be present
April 6-9, 2009
– True for Cloud Storage
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interfaces as well
• A next generation Data
Storage Interface needs to
make use of metadata
– Allows the Data
Requirements to be
expressed on each data
element 5
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6. Metadata and Data Storage
Interfaces
Storage services may
provide functions for
metadata as part of the data
storage interface.
This is an important
capability for managing
April 6-9, 2009
Data Resources (as opposed
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to managing Storage
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Resources).
The metadata may be
managed by the storage
service, managed by data
services, or un-interpreted by
either.
System metadata that is
managed by storage
services are those properties
Other system and user metadata may be
of a data element that
pertain to the primary preserved on the basis of individual data elements,
functions of storing and but is not interpreted by the storage services
retrieving the data.
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7. Metadata for Data Services
•Metadata available through
the data storage interface may
also be managed by data
April 6-9, 2009
services
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•This data service metadata
can be used by data services
to provide differentiated value
to individual data elements
•The model or schema for
data service metadata may be
defined by each data service
and may be standardized
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8. Metadata and Information Services
The role of metadata in
information services is as a
communication mechanism with
the underlying storage services
and data services.
April 6-9, 2009
Information services are
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primarily concerned with the data
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service system metadata as a
means to convey the data’s
requirements to the underlying
data services.
An information service may
also interpret user metadata for
purposes of data classification.
An information service can
create its own user metadata that
is un-interpreted by the
underlying services for its own
use.
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9. The Resource Domain Model
April 6-9, 2009
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10. XAM API: an example Data Storage
Interface
• XAM is the first interface to
XAM User metadata is un-
standardize system metadata
interpretable by the system, but
for retention of data
stored with the other data and
XAM implements the basic
is available for use in queries
capability to Read and Write
Data (through Xstreams)
April 6-9, 2009
Given this we can see that
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XAM has the ability to locate
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XAM is a data storage interface
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any that is used by both Storage
supplying the XUID and Data Services (functions)
XAM allows Metadata to be
added to the data and keeps
both in an XSet object
XAM uses and produces
system metadata for each XSet
For example Access and
Commit times (Storage System
Metadata)
But it also uniquely specifies
Data System Metadata for
Retention Data Services
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11. XAM SDK
The XAM SDK is dynamically linked by each
application wishing to connect to and use
XSystems.
April 6-9, 2009
Application
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Orlando, Florida
Toolkit
Connect() XAM API
XAM Library XAM Library
VIM API
Reference Vendor Vendor
..
VIM A VIM X VIM VIM = Vendor
Interface Module
.
The XAM SDK includes several components:
XSystem
• XAM Library, which implements the XAM API functions
• Reference VIM, which implements the reference behavior
of an XSystem
• a framework which allows plug-able Vendor VIMs
• optional XAM Toolkit Libraries for convenience functions
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12. XAM Application software stack
C/C++ Application Java Application
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XAM Java API (JNI)
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XAM C API XAM Java API
XAM Library logic (C++) XAM Library logic (Java)
‘outgoing’ VIM C API ‘outgoing’ VIM Java API
VIM Java API (JNI)
VIM C API VIM Java API
VIM VIM
C Java
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13. HTTP VIM
• C language VIM plugs into C XAM Library
April 6-9, 2009
• Java language VIM sits atop Reference VIM
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• Communication is XML over HTTP
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• Not RESTful, not Web Services
• If there becomes a Cloud interface with XAM-like
functions (i.e. metadata and query support), a VIM
could be created to use that
• Alternatively, SNIA could standardize such a wire
level interface for this usage
•discussion in Cloud TWG perhaps
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14. Cloud API to the Resource Domain
Model
Nothing further
is needed to be
standardized in
order to use
XAM for a
April 6-9, 2009
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Cloud Storage
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API today.
Applications are
written to a local
(Java, C, etc.)
API and the
Cloud vendor’s
VIM handles the
rest.
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15. SNIA XAM
• XAM version 1.0 is a standard
April 6-9, 2009
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• XAM Initiative is coordinating with
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SNIA’s Cloud efforts
• XAM SDK TWG finishing up
software development
• TopCoder Challenge
– See Flyer for details
Get Involved!
http://snia.org/XAM 15
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16. April 6-9, 2009
Rosen Shingle
Thank You!
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