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GeezerVison is showing www.lightbitslabs.com — Lightbits for Apache CloudStack  ALPHA
Unlock High Performance for Apache CloudStackHigh-performance shared primary storage for Apache CloudStack KVM clouds, powered by Lightbits block storage over standard NVMe/TCP.  Alpha release. The Lightbits plugin for Apache CloudStack is an alpha version meant for evaluation. It should not be used in production environments. See the alpha scope CloudStack storage, no specialized hardware requiredThe Lightbits open-source plugin registers a Lightbits cluster as managed primary storage in Apache CloudStack. Every VM root disk and data disk becomes its own Lightbits volume, served to the KVM hosts over NVMe/TCP on your existing Ethernet network. Disk offerings choose the replica count per volume, snapshots and clones run natively on the storage, and running VMs live-migrate between hosts without copying their disks. Everything is driven from the standard CloudStack UI and API. This first release is an alpha, published so CloudStack operators can evaluate the plugin in lab and proof-of-concept environments and share feedback before general availability. What is Apache CloudStack? Apache CloudStack is an open-source Infrastructure-as-a-Service platform for building and running multi-tenant clouds of virtual machines. Service providers, enterprises and research institutions use it to offer self-service compute, networking and storage. What are the main features of CloudStack? A web UI and REST API, multi-tenancy with domains, accounts and projects, compute and disk offerings, built-in networking, and a pluggable storage framework that supports managed primary storage from external systems. What storage does CloudStack support? CloudStack supports NFS, local disk, iSCSI and Ceph RBD primary storage, plus managed storage plugins from storage vendors. Lightbits plugs in as managed primary storage: software-defined block storage that runs on standard servers and serves volumes over NVMe/TCP. Is CloudStack a good alternative to VMware? Yes. Many service providers and enterprises run Apache CloudStack with KVM as an open-source alternative to VMware. Lightbits gives those clouds the shared, high-performance block storage a SAN used to provide, without Fibre Channel. Which hypervisors does the Lightbits plugin support? KVM. The CloudStack management server talks to the Lightbits API, and each KVM host connects to its volumes over NVMe/TCP with the standard Linux nvme_tcp module. Add Storage to CloudStackTwo paths, one clean abstraction. The plugin connects CloudStack’s managed primary storage framework to the Lightbits cluster over two independent channels: a REST API for volume lifecycle and NVMe/TCP for I/O. Each CloudStack volume maps one-to-one to a Lightbits volume.
 CloudStack storage. Zero specialized hardware.Everything you would expect from an enterprise SAN, over standard Ethernet TCP.  High Performance Block StorageNVMe over TCP delivers low, consistent latency without Fibre Channel HBAs or iSCSI configuration, on the network you already have.  Managed Primary StorageLightbits registers as a CloudStack managed primary storage pool, cluster-wide or zone-wide. Every VM disk is its own Lightbits volume, so disks are never tied to a host.  Live MigrationRunning VMs move between KVM hosts without copying their disks. The plugin hands the volume over to the destination host, and host maintenance evacuates every VM the same way.  Native Snapshots and ClonesVolume snapshots, revert and create-volume-from-snapshot run as native Lightbits operations. New root disks are instant clones of a cached template instead of full copies.  Replicas Per VolumeDisk offerings set the replica count (1 to 3) for each volume, so one pool can serve both replicated and single-copy workloads. Pools can also enable inline compression.  Open SourceApache 2.0-licensed plugin for Apache CloudStack 4.22, installed as a single file on the management server and KVM hosts. Nothing to install on the storage side. What this alpha is, and what it is not yetThe alpha covers the core VM storage lifecycle on KVM and has passed repeated end-to-end test runs in Lightbits labs. It has not yet completed the security, hardening and packaging work Lightbits requires before supporting the plugin in production. Before you install
Working in this alpha Validated in lab
Coming in future versions Planned
Add Lightbits to a CloudStack Evaluation CloudAdding Lightbits as CloudStack primary storage and deploying a VM on NVMe/TCP is as easy as 1-2-3. 1
Install the pluginRun the installer on the CloudStack management server and on each KVM host. It places the plugin, checks the NVMe/TCP prerequisites on KVM hosts and restarts the CloudStack services. 2
Register the primary storageAdd primary storage with provider “Lightbits”, pointing at the cluster’s API address and a project token. CloudStack validates the cluster and shows its capacity. 3
Create an offering and deployTag a disk or compute offering to the pool, optionally set the replica count, and deploy VMs. Their disks are created on Lightbits and connected over NVMe/TCP. See it in action Register the pool, create an offering, deploy VMs. The root disks are native Lightbits clones. Live migration, without moving the dataWhen CloudStack migrates a running VM to another KVM host, its disks stay where they are on the Lightbits cluster. The plugin gives the destination host access to each volume, the VM continues on the new host, and the old host’s access is removed. The demo below shows an application VM streaming video and writing a transaction log while it migrates, then a host put into maintenance with all its VMs moved off live.  The VM keeps running through the move. Its disk stays on Lightbits; only host access changes. Tested versions for this alphaLightbits tests the alpha against the combinations below. Other versions may work but have not been tested.
Ready to evaluate NVMe/TCP storage in your CloudStack cloud?Tell us about your CloudStack environment and we will help you set up the alpha plugin in a lab or proof-of-concept environment. Apache, Apache CloudStack, CloudStack and the Apache CloudStack logo are trademarks of The Apache Software Foundation. Their use does not imply endorsement by The Apache Software Foundation. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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