As I mentioned in a previous post, developers have been laying the groundwork for private cloud rollout of our storage systems.
This new paradigm in which we are operating was a major paradigm shift.
For years the modus operandi has been to build storage software (microcode, firmware, whatever you want to call it) that is only embedded in a physical piece of hardware. Sure, we design our software to abstract out many of the hardware details. This allows agile deployment of the software onto new platforms. Hardware-based rollout will continue to be modus operandi for some time.
So in the end, we manufacture and ship a physical box. Because of the emergence of private clouds, however, we're being asked to ship something new as well.
A file.
My Experience With Files
Clearly I have a lot of experience with files. I put source code in them. I put design specifications in them. I put my yearly self-appraisal in them. When my boss asks me why my self-appraisal seems to be missing certain, um, details about what didn't go well last year, I tell him that this file may have been subjected to a virus.
Files are well-understood.
But I had never been asked to put a storage system in one!
How VMware Changed My Job Description
At the time of the VMware/EMC transaction, I fully understood the VMware value proposition for server virtualization, but it took me a bit longer to grasp the impact to storage systems.
I soon learned how storage enthusiasts can point a tool such as VMplayer at a file, click "play", and watch a storage system boot.
Two events in 2008 further crystallized the new task of building software that is shipped as both a hardware device AND a file.
The first event was the deployment of a file known as a Centera Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA). This VSA was used as part of an internal XAM coding challenge that was held between employees at EMC. We shipped "storage systems as files" all over the globe as developers began to use them as their own personal Centera. While just a simple simulator, this VSA enabled widespread innovation.
The second event was the VMware vStorage announcement last summer. The Celerra VSA was part of that announcement. This file is actually shipped externally to select partners who want this simulator for the exact same reason: to experiment with Celerra. Celerra developers are now tasked with delivering both the hardware AND the file.
The Impact On Private Clouds
Customers building a private cloud will have the option to purchase storage as hardware or to purchase it as a file.
For those who purchase storage as a file, they will experience a new paradigm in how they deploy and configure block, file, and object storage.
I'm looking forward to writing more about this topic, and gathering feedback from anybody out there who is already experimenting with VSAs and building their own first-of-a-kind "private cloud".
Steve
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