Storage software developer Gluster has partnered with cloud infrastructure provider GoGrid to make its open-source storage solution available on the GoGrid platform.
Gluster’s scalable network-attached storage (NAS) solution is designed to let enterprises create storage platforms out of commodity hardware that was previously used for other purposes, said John Kreisa, Gluster’s VP of marketing. “There are advantages to being software-only,” he said. “You can take the software and put it in different environments to build virtualized storage environments.”
Gluster has existing partnerships with other cloud providers, including Amazon and RightScale. The link with GoGrid means Gluster’s software can be packaged with GoGrid Server Image, letting enterprises embed shared storage into GoGrid cloud infrastructure deployments. GoGrid customers can deploy scale-out NAS cloud storage to petabytes of capacity, according to Gluster. The idea is to allow enterprises to move more applications to the cloud because they can rely on the storage solution offered, Kreisa said.
“You can add data to the software to an infinite level,” he said. “It’s the nature of the technology we use that allows us to have storage across all these environments.”
In a deployment of the software on Amazon’s infrastructure for an electronic signature company, Gluster was able to ease the firm’s concerns about cloud storage, said Tom Trainer, Gluster’s director of product marketing.
“They had a problem with storage in the cloud, so they deployed Gluster and were able to move files and still provide the same service level agreements with their customers,” Trainer said. “GoGrid has a large cache of enterprise customers that have been struggling with the cloud. They can now move their NAS into the GoGrid cloud.”
