Ceph is an open source distributed object store, network block device, and file system. Ceph can be used for object storage through its S3 and Swift APIs. It can also provide storage for network block devices, with the thin provisioning and copy-on-write cloning features necessary to support large-scale virtualization.
Since the Folsom release, Cinder makes block storage for backing VMs a first class feature in OpenStack. Block devices can be created from images stored in Glance, and with Ceph's RBD behind both, new VMs can be created faster while using less space. In the latest Ceph ‘Bobtail’ release, you can start many VMs instantly by cloning from templates. Also, on the storage backend side, you will see increased I/O performance due to improved threading.
This session will cover an intro to Ceph, the current status of Ceph and Grizzly, the latest features of the Ceph Bobtail release and also the technical implications and the advantages of block storage within OpenStack.
