Data center migration,The path of evolution of object storage

Data center migration, the amount of data created every year is increasing exponentially. Almost every enterprise now relies on technology, and the information generated by these businesses can be said to have become their largest asset. Unstructured data is the best storage type, and its growth is the largest. So, how do we use object storage technology, and what can we expect it to bring?

What is object storage?
The development of object storage stems from the highly elastic demand for long-term storage of large amounts of structured data. Looking back on the past 20 granny, we have block storage (traditional storage) and NAS devices (usually as file servers). NAS does not really extend to the PB level, and it does not provide the resilience of long term data retention. In general, enterprises use tape (Tape) to meet the needs, but the tape is slow and inefficient.
The developed object store has developed into a mature technology for years by providing online access content to fill in the gap. Using erasure coding (EC) and other new protection methods, it usually solves the problem of data protection in large files.
Object storage uses Web based protocol to store and retrieve data. In essence, most of them provide four basic CRUD: create (Create), read (Read), update (Update), delete (Delete). In many cases, Update is just to match with Delete and Create. This means that the use of embedded data and associated metadata for HTTP to issue REST based API calls is relatively simple to interact with object storage.
This simple operation highlights the problem of object storage: the application needs to be re written to use object store, API. vendors help to complete the process by providing SDK, but need to change the application. This problem lets us see the first object of the evolution of the object storage: multiple protocol access.
Multi protocol object storage has been using multiple protocol access for some time to use the object storage back end as a large capacity pool in the form of gateway or additional software. The problem with this move is whether they really provide concurrent access to the same data from different protocol stacks. You can use NFS to store and retrieve objects, but what about using NFS to store and use Web based protocol access?
Why do enterprises want to have the ability to store one protocol and access through another protocol? Providing NFS means that an application can use object storage without modification. By providing concurrent Web based models, the analysis tool can access data without introducing NFS related performance problems, such as locking or multithreading impacting the same object. The typical value read configuration file of the analysis software means that data can be analyzed without affecting the main application.
Many Internet of things devices can be stored only through NFS, so incorporating such content into object storage means that file based protocols are essential.
One factor that extensibility affects an object storage application is the ability to shrink, not just extension. The initial capacity of many object storage solutions is hundreds of TB, which is not practical for smaller IT organizations. Vendors are beginning to solve this problem by producing products that can shrink to tens of megabytes.
Obviously, a large capacity hard disk and flash can be a problem, but it can achieve the functional advantages of the object storage. Therefore, the solution provided by the manufacturer is pure software, which can be deployed on special hardware, and can also be deployed as an internal deployment or virtual instance in public cloud.
With the continuous development of the Internet of things, data will explode. A large number of small object storage will prove to be able to meet the continuous demand of Internet of things.
Software definitions go back to pure software solutions, and the provision of pure software solutions means that enterprises can choose the right type of hardware for their environment. When hardware supply contracts already exist, enterprises can simply pay for object storage software and deploy them on existing devices, including testing old hardware that may be processed in other ways.
Another direction for the development of open source object storage software definition is open source, and Ceph is one of the storage platforms developed as an open source model. OpenIO provides a high level of server - free functionality that provides the same experience as a premium service. Another open source solution, Minio, recently won $20 million to push its platform to a wider audience, including the Docker container.
The attention of software in trial version means that it is easy for organizations to try object storage. In addition to IBM Cloud Storage and DDN, almost all suppliers provide some trial process by downloading software or using company's laboratory environment. Providing a trial version of the software can be open to the software for long-term evaluation and adoption.
In the future, we should consider the future of object storage. It can be said that the most recent development direction is to make the solution easier to use, and pay more attention to the development and usability of software and vendors. Multiple protocols connect more applications, making it easier for data to enter object storage. In the next few years, we will see that object storage is still an important platform for persistent data storage.