Object storage is a data storage architecture that manages data as objects, where each object includes the data itself, metadata, and a unique identifier. These objects are placed into named containers called buckets. This contrasts with file storage (e.g. NAS, local filesystem) which manages data as a file hierarchy or block storage (e.g. SAN, local disk) that can either have a file system laid on top or be accessed directly by an application (e.g., raw volume).
As an analogy, imagine a vast warehouse with rooms (buckets) full of boxes (objects), each box sporting a bar code (unique identifier) and a sticky note (metadata) describing what’s inside.
The benefits of object storage include:
Common object storage use cases include:
NetApp StorageGRID is a software-defined object storage solution that supports a wide range of use cases including AI data prep, data lakes & analytics, and data retention & backup across public, private, and hybrid multi-cloud environments. StorageGRID offers native support for the Amazon S3 API and delivers industry-leading innovations such as automated lifecycle management to store, secure, protect, and preserve unstructured data cost effectively over long periods.
StorageGRID software is available for download and installation for a trial period on the NetApp Product Evaluation page. The software can be used in a non-production environment.
StorageGRID is licensed by capacity per grid for both software-only and StorageGRID appliance-based deployments, regardless of the number of sites. These are the licensing options:
The key features of StorageGRID include:
StorageGRID safeguards data durability and availability with erasure coding and replication, protecting data across multiple nodes and locations. It also includes self-healing capabilities to automatically repair and rebalance data.
StorageGRID can be deployed on-premises, as both appliance-based and software-only deployments on commodity hardware.
StorageGRID uses policy-driven data management (ILM) to automate data placement, retention, and deletion. Policies can be based on criteria such as age, metadata, and usage patterns.
The ILM feature in StorageGRID is the Information Lifecycle Manager, a powerful tool for managing data throughout its lifecycle, optimizing storage costs, ensuring compliance, and protecting data integrity. ILM provides a powerful and flexible policy engine that enables users to define how objects are stored and managed in NetApp StorageGRID. Users can outline criteria based on object metadata to filter objects and to specify where those objects should be placed on the grid.
Users can also tune their object placement for performance by storing multiple replicated object copies or tune it for storage efficiency by using erasure-coded (EC) objects. The StorageGRID scanning ILM engine continuously scans objects and brings them into compliance with the current active ILM policy. This feature makes ILM truly dynamic, allowing administrators to change the ILM policy based on their business and compliance needs.
Erasure coding (EC) is a data protection technology that slices an object into data fragments and computes additional parity fragments. When an object is accessed, the data fragments are retrieved, and the object is decoded. The parity fragments provide data protection and can be used to re-create lost data. If either a data fragment or a parity fragment becomes corrupt or lost, the EC algorithm can re-create the fragment by using a set of the remaining data and parity fragments.
StorageGRID include support for FIPS certified encryption at rest and in transit, secure multi-tenancy, role-based access control (RBAC), and integration with identity management solutions like LDAP and Active Directory.
StorageGRID is designed to have high throughput and low latency to handle high-performance workloads with support for large-scale data ingestion, fast data retrieval, and efficient data processing. It also supports flash-based storage in some models.
StorageGRID integrates with existing IT environments through APIs and supports a wide range of applications and workloads. It can be managed via CLI, GUI, and RESTful APIs.
StorageGRID provides features such as object lock, audit logging, and data immutability to help organizations meet compliance and regulatory requirements.
NetApp offers comprehensive support services, including technical support, professional services, and training programs to ensure successful deployment and management of StorageGRID. NetApp also offers Keystone to provide storage-as-a-service and predictable costs.
Deploying StorageGRID requires careful consideration of both hardware and software components to ensure optimal performance and reliability. It's important to consult the official NetApp StorageGRID documentation and work with your NetApp account team to tailor the deployment to your specific needs and environment. Refer to the official documentation for guidance when deploying with your own hardware.
StorageGRID provides two layers of protection to support data durability and availability: RAID configuration for drives and object replication/erasure coding. StorageGRID can lose multiple nodes or even have an entire site go down and still maintain availability.
There are several tools available to monitor StorageGRID:
StorageGRID implements a Grid, Admin, Client (GAC) network model. The GAC model provides a simple method to configure three different networks to meet customer requirements for segregation of StorageGRID network traffic. The three networks are defined as follows:
A StorageGRID deployment requires three storage nodes and one admin node within one site. Customers can optionally add a gateway node.
StorageGRID enables multiple groups of users to share the resources of a single StorageGRID instance while keeping their data isolated and secure from each other.
Grid administrators can create tenants and configure permissions and features per tenant. For identity federation, grid administrators have the flexibility either to integrate with a single Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) or Active Directory server for the entire grid or to allow tenants to configure their own identity federation. And by enforcing capacity quotas, grid administrators can also restrict tenant data usage.
Tenant users access StorageGRID by using the Tenant Manager UI portal. Using this portal, users configure their tenant account, provision S3 credentials, set access management policies for data, manage settings on buckets, and create buckets in StorageGRID.
StorageGRID offers several robust options for backup and disaster recovery (DR) to ensure data protection and business continuity. Here’s a concise overview:
StorageGRID supports a comprehensive set of standards and protocols, including S3 API, LDAP, Active Directory, HTTP/HTTPS, SNMP, syslog, and TLS. This extensive support ensures that StorageGRID can seamlessly integrate with a wide range of applications and services, providing a flexible and secure object storage solution for diverse use cases.
StorageGRID supports a wide range of security protocols and features, including TLS, SSL, HTTPS, encryption at rest, object lock, role-based access control, LDAP and Active Directory integration, multi-factor authentication, audit logging, SNMP, and syslog. These security measures ensure that your data is protected from unauthorized access and tampering, while also supporting compliance with various regulatory requirements.
StorageGRID customers can use LDAP or Active Directory to manage administrator access and permissions for the Grid Manager UI as well as to manage storage end-user access and permissions for tenants.
StorageGRID supports SSO by way of the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) standard protocol. When SSO is enabled, StorageGRID administrators can log in to the Grid Manager by using their SSO credentials, authenticated by an external identity provider (IDP).
Choosing between ONTAP and StorageGRID for S3 protocol support depends on your specific needs and use cases. Here are some key considerations to help you make an informed decision:
ONTAP
StorageGRID
Summary