This document discusses using Ceph block storage (RBD) with Apache CloudStack for distributed storage. Ceph provides block-level storage that scales for performance and capacity like SAN storage, addressing the need for EBS-like storage across availability zones. CloudStack currently uses local disk or requires separate storage resources per hypervisor, but using Ceph's distributed RBD allows datacenter-wide storage and removes constraints. Upcoming support in CloudStack includes format 2 RBD, snapshots, datacenter-wide storage resources, and removal of legacy storage dependencies.

1. Ceph and Apache CloudStack
David Nalley
ke4qqq@apache.org
@ke4qqq

2. #whoami
Distributed storage junkie
Recovering sysadmin
Member, Apache Software Foundation
PMC Member, Apache CloudStack
Employed by Citrix in the Open Source Business Office

3. Setting the stage
Apache CloudStack is...
● an open source IaaS platform
● proven in production at massive scale
● awesome

4. Gorgeous UI

5. API
● Native: http://cloudstack.apache.org/docs/api
● EC2

6. A brief history of cloud-y storage
● Most would say it started early 2006 with S3 launch
● This really set the stage and everyone's assumptions.
● Cloud-y storage == S3 == Object Storage
● Incredibly useful - typically able to scale well past
traditional filesystem levels
● Super simple - to consume.

7. A brief history of cloud-y storage
● Since then, we've had a number of open source and
proprietary object storage alternatives emerge:
– OpenStack Swift
– Riak CS
– Ceph (has an object storage option)
– Caringo

8. But we have largely ignored....
● EC2 - used ephemeral storage initially
● Introduced EBS
– Apparently zone-wide block storage

9. So object storage is nice but...
● Doesn't fill the void for EBS-like storage
● Neither does traditional storage
● NAS/SANs aren't economically scalable

10. Rados Block Device
● Ceph provides RBD
● Exposes a block storage device - like a SAN
● Easily scales for both performance and capacity

11. Rados Block Device - Features
● Thin-provisioning
● Snapshotting
● Caching

12. Let's talk about today
● CloudStack primarily is a consumer of storage
● Historically we've made storage the fault line
– Concerns were IOPS, SPOF, Cost
– Typically no more than 16 hypervisors per a single storage resource
– So you needed lots of storage resources.....or just use local disk
● Distributed storage gives better scalability.
– Mimics EBS requires data-center wide capabilities
– Reduces costs, and constraints.

13. What else is coming..
●
Support for format 2 RBD
●
Snapshots
●
Datacenter wide storage resources.
●
Removal of need for legacy storage

14. What else is coming..
XenServer support
http://xenserver.org/blog/entry/tech-preview-of-xenserver-libvirt-ceph.html

15. Resources
● http://ceph.com/docs/master/rbd/rbd-cloudstack/
● http://blog.widodh.nl/

16. Questions

17. Contact
● Project
– http://cloudstack.apache.org
– #cloudstack on irc.freenode.net
● Me
– ke4qqq on irc.freenode.net
– ke4qqq@apache.org
– @ke4qqq on Twitter