Openfiler simplifies Linux NAS and SAN

. . . keeping an eye on the penguin

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Sep. 20, 2006

We tend to think of Linux as a general purpose operating system, but it also makes a great foundation for special-purpose software appliances. One of the more interesting releases, in this regard, is the storage management operating system, Openfiler.

Xinit Systems Ltd.'s Openfiler is designed from the bottom-up as both a file-based NAS (Network Attached Storage) and block-based SAN (Storage Area Networking) system manager. To connect these together, Openfiler is designed for use with iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface) devices.

Basically, iSCSI, involves the use of standard SCSI drive commands over a TCP/IP connection. Typically, this means that the SCSI initiator (typically, a server) accesses remote drives as block devices over Gigabit or 10 Gigabit Ethernet. From a user's viewpoint, it appears that these remote drives are co-located with the server. This, in turn, gives businesses relatively inexpensive access to terabytes of storage without the expense of Fibrechannel SANs.

File-based networking protocols supported by Openfiler include: NFS (Network File System v2 and v3); SMB/CIFS (Server Message Block / Common Internet File System); HTTP/WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning); and FTP. Openfiler also supports the NIS (Network Information Service) LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol); Active Directory, in native and mixed modes; and Hesiod network directories.

Openfiler includes support for volume-based partitioning, iSCSI (target and initiator), scheduled snapshots, resource quota, and a single unified Web-based interface for share management that eases the task of allocating shares for various network file-system protocols.

Formerly, this operating system was built on a foundation of CentOS, the Fedora-based Linux operating system. In its latest beta, however, Openfiler has turned to rPath Linux and rBuilder. This switch, according to Tim Gerla, an rPath software engineer has "shortened [the Openfiler] development cycle because of his ability to quickly generate new releases and more easily control specific aspects of package and patch selection."

The new Openfiler beta, version 2.1 beta 1, is available for download from SourceForge. Businesses that want the hardware and software in one package can buy one of Xinit's five highly configurable rack mount storage appliances. These storage appliances can address up to 12 terabytes of storage, according to the company.

-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

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