Configure Scale-out Storage Cluster

IBM Cloud deployments of QuantaStor scale-out storage clusters provide dedicated and highly available file, block, and object storage which can be deployed an any of the IBM Cloud data-centers worldwide. Scale-out cluster use Ceph technology and provide NAS (NFS/SMB), SAN (iSCSI) and S3/SWIFT compatible object storage support in a single deployment. As the name implies, scale-out clusters may be expanded by adding storage media and/or additional QuantaStor servers.

Each server in a scale-out cluster must contain at least one SSD to accelerate write performance and each cluster must contain a minimum of 3x servers (6+ recommended) and a maximum of 32x servers (scalable to over 10PB in the IBM Cloud). QuantaStor’s storage grid technology enables systems to be grouped together and managed as a storage grid that can span IBM Cloud datacenters. Within a storage grid one or more storage clusters may be provisioned and managed via the QuantaStor web based management interface.

OSNEXUS Videos

• Covers Designing Ceph clusters with the QuantaStor solution design web app [17:44]

Key Features

QuantaStor Scale-out Object Storage

• S3 Object Storage Compatible REST API support
• Hybrid HDD + SSD configuration to boost write performance
• Easy web-based management of all systems with built-in QuantaStor storage grid technology.
• Easy expansion by adding systems and/or drives.

Configurations

HYBRID OBJECT STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Capacity	Media Type	Protocol Support	Workload	Bill of Materials	Design
144TB raw / 96TB usable QS 5 Image: 4 x MD (48TB)	HDD + SSD	S3 / SWIFT	Highly-available Large Scale Object Storage Archive Data Analytics Private Cloud Content Delivery Network Disk-to-Disk Backup via S3 Next Generation Applications using S3 back-end	Per Server (4x): Intel Xeon Dual E5-2620 / 12x LFF bay server 64GB RAM 2 x 800GB SATA SSD (RAID1/boot) 9 x 4TB SATA HDD (data) 1 x 800GB SATA SSD (journal) 2 x 10 Gbps Redundant Private Network Uplinks	View Design
432 raw / 288raw QS 5 Image: 4 x LG (128TB)	HDD + SSD	S3 / SWIFT	Highly-available Large Scale Object Storage Archive Data Analytics Private Cloud Content Delivery Network Disk-to-Disk Backup via S3 Next Generation Applications using S3 back-end	Per Server (4x): Intel Xeon Dual E5-2620 / 12x LFF bay server 128GB RAM 2 x 800GB SATA SSD (RAID1/boot) 9 x 12TB SATA HDD (data) 1 x 800GB SATA SSD (journal) 2 x 10 Gbps Redundant Private Network Uplinks	View Design
3072TB raw / 2026TB usable QS 5 Image: 8 x 2XL (384TB)	HDD + SSD	S3 / SWIFT	Highly-available Large Scale Object Storage Archive Data Analytics Private Cloud Content Delivery Network Disk-to-Disk Backup via S3 Next Generation Applications using S3 back-end	Per Server (8x): Intel Xeon Dual E5-2620 / 36x LFF bay server 256GB RAM 2 x 800GB SATA SSD (RAID1/boot) 32 x 12TB SATA HDD (data) 2 x 960GB SATA SSD (journal) 2 x 10 Gbps Redundant Private Network Uplinks	View Design

ALL-FLASH OBJECT STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Capacity	Media Type	Protocol Support	Workload	Bill of Materials	Design
152TB raw / 76TB usable QS 5 Image: 4 x MD (48TB)	SSD	S3 / SWIFT	OpenStack Virtualization Data Analytics Private Cloud Content Delivery Network Next Generation Applications using S3 back-end	Per Server (4x): Intel Xeon Dual E5-2620 / 12x LFF bay server 64GB RAM 2 x 800GB SATA SSD (RAID1/boot) 10 x 3.8TB SATA SSD (data) 2 x 10 Gbps Redundant Private Network Uplinks	View Design

Quick Configuration Steps

Step One: Storage Management Tab → Create Grid → Click OK
Step Two: Storage Management Tab → Add Grid Node → Enter 2nd Appliance IP → Click OK
Step Three: Storage Management Tab → Add Grid Node → Enter 3nd Appliance IP → Click OK
Step Four: Storage Management Tab → Controllers & Enclosures → Right-click Controller → Configure Pass-thru devices → Select all → Click OK (do this for each controller on each appliance)
Step Five: Storage Management Tab → Modify Storage System → Set Domain Suffix → Click OK (do this for each appliance)
Step Six: Scale-out Object Storage Tab → Create Ceph Cluster → Select all appliances → Click OK
Step Seven: Scale-out Object Storage Tab → Multi-Create OSDs → Select SSDs as journals, HDDs as OSDs → Click OK
Step Eight: Scale-out Object Storage Tab → Create Object Storage Pool Group → Select Erasure Coding Mode → Click OK