#167 - Adapting Open Source Storage for the Enterprise

This week Chris and Martin catch up with Phil Straw, CEO at Softiron for a discussion on packaging Open Source storage solutions for adoption by the enterprise. Softiron sells a software appliance based on Ceph which has been tuned to deliver high performance with high efficiency. So, exactly how do vendors go about making Open Source more consumable without breaking the values of Open Source software development?

This discussion is interesting as it highlights both the benefits of marrying hardware and software, while working within the constraints of a community software solution. Rather than simply test, Softiron look at the code and work out the right way to make Ceph work efficiently. Of course, every enterprise could do the same thing, but typically this task was covered by the vendor.

You can find more on Softiron at www.softiron.com.

Elapsed Time: 00:36:09

Timeline

00:00:00 – Intros
00:01:30 – How can we package Open Source storage software?
00:02:30 – Is there a gap in open source and enterprise expectations?
00:06:00 – Where do Open Source storage ideas come from?
00:07:30 – Softiron brings an “enterprise” experience to Ceph
00:08:45 – Open source adoption often means just testing
00:11:40 – Is the enterprise capable of managing open source?
00:13:00 – How do you adopt a software product with little code control
00:16:00 – HyperDrive is built to be a storage solution
00:18:15 – Ceph is not forked
00:20:00 – How can Softiron ensure Ceph heads the right direction
00:24:30 – Storage is becoming more important again
00:28:00 – Lock-in occurs in many ways, not purely technological
00:29:00 – How can a vendor like Softiron protect their IP?
00:32:45 – Always ask how you will exit using a product
00:34:30 – What is HyperDrive?
00:35:10 – Wrap Up

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