An Evolution in Storage: The Object Store

As unstructured data continues to grow faster than IT budgets, organizations are looking for ways to support growth while reducing complexity and easing the pressure on IT budgets. In addition, the rise of cloud, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and file synchronization and sharing pose new challenges for IT. Hitachi Data Systems provides intelligent, object-based storage solutions and applications that support diverse use cases like file synchronization and sharing, cloud storage and archiving, from a single cluster, simultaneously. These solutions enable more efficient operations, help secure and protect data assets, and help IT stay agile as organizations evolve.

Hitachi Data Systems Object Storage Solutions

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Unstructured Data ChallengesThe challenge with unstructured data (file data) is that it is unstructured, and many of the technologies to manage it were implemented when this data was a small fraction of the total compared to structured data.

As unstructured data began to grow more quickly, the fundamental differences between structured and unstructured data began to impact the IT environ-ment in significant ways. In response, organizations deployed specialized technology to support the vast quantity of data being created. The technology of choice was network attached storage or NAS. Easy deployment and compelling cost led to storage sprawl, which created new challenges in manag-ing, governing protecting and searching content. In response, many organizations are lead to consider cloud storage due to its perceived lower cost and ease of scale. However, the loss of control over those data assets is troubling to many IT organizations: Who has the encryption keys? What kind of service levels can be expected? What if I want to change service providers?

Object storage brings structure to unstructured file data, making it easier to store, protect, secure, manage, organize, search, sync and share file data. The great scale and rich features of these solutions help organizations leverage a single storage invest-ment for a variety of workloads. Such workloads

SOLUTION PROFILE

include cloud-based file synchronization and sharing, providing efficient file services to remote sites and mobile users, storage for Web 2.0 applications, backup-free file storage, organizational archives and much more.

The Hitachi Data Systems object store, Hitachi Content Platform (HCP), provides solutions to these challenges through a single platform. It brings the cloud in house and provides intelligent automation that frees up IT staff from day-to-day, hands-on administration.

Hitachi Brings Structure to Unstructured File DataHitachi Data Systems object storage solu-tions bring structure to unstructured data and avoid the limitations of traditional file systems by intelligently storing content in far larger quantities and in a much more efficient manner. These solutions provide for the new demands imposed by the explo-sion of unstructured data and its growing importance to organizations, their partners, their customers, their governments and their shareholders.

The Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions treat file data, file metadata and custom metadata as a single object that is tracked and stored among a variety of storage tiers. With secure multitenancy and configurable attributes for each logical par-tition, the object store can be divided into a number of smaller virtual object stores that present configurable attributes to support different service levels. This allows the object store to support a wide range of workloads, such as content preservation, data protection, content distribution and even cloud from a single physical infra-structure. One infrastructure is far easier to manage than disparate silos of technology for each application or set of users.

The Content CloudObject storage is fundamental to the Hitachi cloud strategy (see Figure 1). In Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions, Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) serves as the core of the content cloud, around which are layers of additional applications and tech-nologies that extend the reach of the object store to the cloud and beyond. With object storage at the core, data center operations

for file data can be automated and made more efficient by archiving fixed content and eliminating tape backups for data in the object store. This enables consolidation of the highest performance: Expensive storage can be right-sized for the workload with the bulk of the data in the object store until high performance access is required.

However, there is literally an entire world outside the data center. Remote and branch offices can be connected to the object store. This connection allows them to enjoy bottomless, backup-free file serving from a device that acts a lot like a NAS device. The difference is, the device stores most of the data in the content cloud instead of in local storage. The files that get used regularly can be “pinned” to that site. Now, all data is available at all sites at all times, without the burden of replication and with a much smaller IT footprint. In addition, object storage provides the platform for similar functions on end-user devices, otherwise known as file synchronization and sharing.

File Synchronization and SharingThe traditional means of sharing files are breaking down, giving way to email attach-ments, content management systems, copies on user devices, copies in backups and copies on file servers. This development leads to inefficient storage and network utili-zation, owing to massive content duplication and high cost for storage, backup and data

Figure 1. Hitachi Data Systems Cloud Strategy

management. The limitations of the old meth-ods have led to the popularity of consumer cloud-based file synchronization and sharing tools. It’s not just file sharing, though. The rise of BYOD means end users want their work data on multiple devices; getting work data onto a smartphone or tablet would require a user to use file-sharing techniques to get that data where they want it, making matters worse.

These trends are causing problems for IT. End users are generating and sharing more and more copies of data, exacerbating storage and network inefficiencies and storing them in unsanctioned devices, applications and clouds. These actions put the data outside the control and governance of corporate IT. The answer is not ruthless enforcement of strict policies, as users will just find another work-around. The answer is not to simply give up and turn data over to consumer clouds. The true solution is to deliver file synchronization and sharing from within IT. The true solution enables users to access data and collaborate on any device, from any location at any time. And it allows them to do so safely, securely, and with corporate oversight using a private object storage based cloud.

The Hitachi Data Systems solution combines Hitachi Content Platform object store and Hitachi Content Platform Anywhere (HCP Anywhere). A file synchronization and sharing application, HCP Anywhere was designed and built for enterprise IT, unlike most solu-tions, which are built for consumer use.

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Intelligent ObjectsIn most storage systems, the intelligence resides within the storage itself, which limits service to hundreds of millions to about a billion files. This volume, unheard of less than a decade ago, is now becoming more and more common.

To make the significant next jump in scale requires some intelligence to reside in the objects themselves. In such a model, indi-vidual objects would have the “DNA” to know when to create clones of them and how to adjust to changes in environment. For example, in the case of a rush of read requests in a particular geography, objects would be cloned and migrate to the hot spot to service requests locally. Once read activity subsided, objects would know to die off, as there would no longer be a need for such a large population.

As a means of comparison, consider the human organism, which contains tens of trillions of cells. The human organism couldn’t operate if it were solely governed by conscious control. Instead, the human organism is controlled by a set of auto-nomic functions. These functions operate independently of conscious thought and thus can perform the myriad functions necessary to keep such a complex of cells operating as a single unit. To achieve extreme scales in the tens of trillions of objects, intelligent object stores will likewise need to push down some of the intelligence to the objects themselves. This action

will create “intelligent objects” capable of responding to changes in the environment.

To do this, object storage uses metadata, or information about a file, to intelligently automate the management of file data. All files have metadata, their file name, file type, size, last access date and so on. Hitachi object storage goes several steps further. It provides multiple fields for metadata so that different users and applications can use their own metadata and tags without disturbing others’ metadata. It also pro-vides a built-in metadata query tool. The tool enables fast search as well as more complex queries to help select sets of data for further analysis or create smart policies around how content should be stored, retained, protected, accessed and more.

Content Preservation Many organizations want to ensure that dig-ital content is preserved for the long term. Some of the reasons are regulatory, but others are to ensure content is preserved and protected for the future as an asset to the organization. Many times these assets can then provide a competitive advantage for an organization, driving value from the content assets.

Many organizations want to continue using their preferred software provider to interface the content source to the object storage infrastructure and remove their historical “islands of information.” This allows IT to shift its focus to implementing an enterprise-wide

strategy with a common repository for long-term management, preservation, protection and search of content and its metadata. It allows IT to take the first steps toward “big data,” reduce the cost and risk associated with managing different “islands,” as well as optimize the return on investment and pro-vide a long-term corporate repository. IT can improve the cost-effectiveness of the organi-zation’s IT strategy by leveraging a variety of media as part of the object store, including spin-down disk and even tape media. IT can also establish a solid platform for future compliance or information governance requirements.

These solutions provide an infrastructure that can be provisioned and configured to serve a wide range of use cases from a single infrastructure that provides key func-tionality, such as:

■■ “Write once, read many” (WORM) and content authenticity service for data integrity.■■ Encryption and access control for privacy and security.■■ Index and search for e-discovery.■■ Object tracking and event logging for audit support.■■ Metadata mining and full content search, which help gather metrics, look for trends, and find relationships among data.■■ Spin-down disk support for reducing the cost for data protection copies and deep archives.■■ Multiple protocols, which can access advanced features to support multiple applications. ■■ Retention and disposal management ser-vices to automatically govern how long content is kept and how it is deleted.

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Back Up Less…or Backup-Less?The growth in unstructured data stresses traditional, tape-based backup and restore operations. Numerous, disparate systems with large numbers of files and duplicate copies of data increase backup and restore times and impact the performance and availability of production systems. This drives up cost and complexity with the handling of increasing numbers of tapes, the management of offsite storage, and the possibility of a compliance or legal action needing information stored in tape-based backups. Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions attack the problem in 4 ways that reduce the amount of data to be written to tape and streamline recovery processes.

First, the object store provides a target to offload data from primary systems to the object store as an active archive. While archives used to be considered only the end of the line for content, the Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions provide an environment that supports multiple ver-sions of the same content. Multiple versions of less frequently used content can be in the object store and be accessed directly by users and applications without requiring special tools or custom applications to view and access the archive. By moving less used and static content to an object store, IT vastly reduces the amount of data on expensive, heavily used primary systems. This reduces the amount of time spent backing up and, more importantly, restoring critical systems, and basically eliminates the hassle over less critical content.

Second, data deduplication and com-pression are used to control data size by eliminating unnecessary copies and shrink-ing the amount of storage used for a given piece of content. As new objects are written to the object store, the content is com-pared with similar objects and unnecessary, duplicate data is eliminated or compressed to save space. This capability combines with selective replication (where administra-tors can decide what data to replicate) to reduce the amount of data at replica sites and conserve precious replication band-width. Controlling the overall amount of storage consumed on the object store and

any of its replica systems streamlines failover to secondary systems and recovery of pri-mary systems once the failure is repaired.

Third, because of its content preserva-tion capabilities, the object store already ensures data integrity with WORM, encryp-tion and more. By adding services such as data protection levels, advanced replica-tion, version awareness and the ability to browse the environment, the object store ensures objects are well protected and easily recoverable. As the data is onsite and on disk that can be easily browsed, content can be recovered quickly, on demand, at a particular point in time and in a self-service manner. This reduces help desk costs and avoids the hassle of finding the right tape, mounting it (assuming it is onsite), reading the catalog and spinning to the right point of the tape only to learn that another version is needed.

Fourth, the object store provides data retention and disposition services that automatically keep content for the pre-scribed duration. Barring a retention hold, it automatically deletes expired content so the capacity can be reclaimed and recycled back into available storage. These deletions can be logged and annotated to provide an audit trail of what content was removed, when, by whom and why. These technol-ogies are key as the traditional methods of

keeping every file forever and backing all files up every week are too costly and risky in today’s economic, regulatory and legal climates. By putting policies in place and adhering to them with automated tools that log important events, organizations can greatly reduce the risk of failing an audit or facing a fine due to rogue data in long for-gotten tape.

Using the object store as a platform for file synchronization and sharing can have significant effects on data protection as well. Consider all the copies of a file that get created: the original on a user device, a copy on a file server, a copy on the Web, a copy on the mail server, a copy in each recipients inbox. The list goes on and on. Despite these all being the same file, they all get backed up, some get replicated, and some aren’t even known to the IT organiza-tion. Now, with the object store, image links instead of files are moving through all these systems. Rather than a 2MB file, there is a hyperlink that refers to the latest version of a single instanced, compressed and well-protected file that can be accessed anywhere. No more full inboxes. No more version confusion. No more unnecessary duplication of data. Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions combine the capabilities of an object store with file syn-chronization and sharing technologies and

key attributes of data protection. This com-bination gives IT organizations the ability to deploy a single, intelligent, object-based storage infrastructure that protects data in place. This enables them to back up less data to tape without sacrificing recover-ability or scrapping existing investments in backup infrastructure. In addition, Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions position IT to pursue a backup-less strat-egy that provides greater protection and faster recovery, and is more reliable as well as easier to use and manage. By making use of spin-down disk and even removable media, this approach rivals the cost of tradi-tional tape-based backup.

Cloud Enabled Consider these attributes: the security and integrity of an archive; the protection of RAID-6 erasure coding, advanced rep-lication and failover capabilities; massive scale; support for thousands of tenants and namespaces; built-in chargeback capabili-ties; a management API; and a REST-based http interface that works with a variety of http dialects, including de facto standards, such as Amazon’s S3 API. With these bene-fits, and more, Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions compose an ideal plat-form. From this platform, organizations can build the core of a private or public cloud that delivers file synchronization and sharing and provides an on-premises storage solu-tion for cloud-based applications.

Key to the economics of cloud is virtualiza-tion and secure sharing of a common set of physical resources. Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions provide multiten-ancy that allows IT to securely provision a portion of the infrastructure and turn control of that storage and its capabilities to the users of that storage. By imposing quotas on those tenants and charging based on their measurable usage, IT can better influ-ence the behavior of users by showing them the cost of their storage practices.

Also important for cloud is the ability to easily adapt new storage models to cur-rent user and application behavior. With an integrated “on-ramp” or “edge” device that connects applications and users at distributed sites to centralized object stores,

the power of Hitachi is available to dis-tributed consumers. This device enables private organizations to reduce storage and data protection costs at remote or branch offices, and control the distribution of content to different geographies, lines of business and other appropriate audiences.

Cloud service providers can deliver an edge device that integrates directly with their core infrastructure, providing their customers with greater control and security for data in the cloud. In both cases, IT organizations can gain simplicity, focus on the business and speed return on investment.

SummaryUnstructured data has surpassed struc-tured data in total volume and given rise to a new set of challenges for IT. Rather than continually deploying more capacity and suffering the effects of sprawl, or handing over control, security and protection of cor-porate data assets to a consumer cloud, the time has come for a change in how content is stored and managed. Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions are the product of customer and partner input. They are designed to address the chal-lenges of fast growing file data, increasingly

diverse data types and access methods, and storing content for years, decades, centuries and beyond. By integrating many key technologies in a single storage plat-form, Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions provide a path to short-term return on investment and significant long-term efficiency improvements. The inclusion of intelligent metadata, the tools to search and analyze that information, as well as support for legacy, current and emerging storage protocols meet IT challenges. Hitachi Data Systems object storage solutions not only ensure that IT can address the challenges faced today, but they also set IT up for what’s next. IT can evolve to meet new chal-lenges, stay agile over the long term, and address future change and growth.

For More InformationTo learn more about how Hitachi Data Systems can help you with your unstruc-tured data and to read more about our solutions, visit www.HDS.com/solutions, contact your local sales representative or solutions consultant, or call Hitachi Data Systems at 888-234-5601.

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SP-012-D DG April 2013