Burst Buffer Appliance Storage Tiering Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cluster file systems, such as Lustre, face challenges in balancing storage capacity and IO throughput, leading to suboptimal performance or excessive costs due to mismatched storage devices and direct IO operations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a burst buffer appliance that controls storage tiering across object storage servers, allowing transparent inclusion of a flash storage tier without significant changes to clients, servers, or applications, and dynamically balances storage capacity and IO throughput by moving data between different storage tiers based on user specifications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If direct IO operations are performed with back-end storage arrays on object storage servers, then storage capacity is available, but IO throughput performance is suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
A burst buffer appliance is introduced as an intermediary component between clients and object storage servers. The burst buffer includes high-speed storage devices (e.g., flash storage) that temporarily hold data during IO operations, acting as a mediator that accelerates data transfer and decouples the performance characteristics of clients from back-end storage arrays.
Solution Approach 2:
The storage system is segmented into multiple tiers: high-speed burst buffer storage (flash/memory) and capacity-oriented object storage arrays. This segmentation allows different storage media to be optimized for different functions - the burst buffer handles high-speed IO operations while object storage provides scalable capacity, resolving the contradiction between throughput and capacity.
2Productivity
If high-performance storage devices are used to improve IO throughput, then performance is enhanced, but system costs become excessive
Solution Approach 1:
High-performance flash storage is applied locally and selectively at the burst buffer level where it is most needed for accelerating IO operations, rather than uniformly across all storage components. This allows performance enhancement to be concentrated where it provides maximum benefit while keeping overall system costs manageable through the use of lower-cost object storage for capacity needs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If storage tiering is implemented to balance capacity and performance, then system flexibility improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated data movement between storage tiers through the burst buffer appliance, which autonomously manages data placement and migration based on performance requirements. This self-service approach reduces the need for manual intervention and complex management overhead, making the tiered storage system easier to operate despite its enhanced functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A cluster file system comprises a burst buffer appliance coupled to a plurality of object storage servers via a network. The burst buffer appliance is configured to implement storage tiering control functionality based on a user specification for at least first and second storage tiers comprising respective disjoint subsets of the plurality of object storage servers. The user specification comprises, for example, a user request to move data from a first storage tier to a second storage tier; for an indication of where a given file is stored; for an indication of a given storage tier where a given file is stored and/or for an indication of an object storage server storing one or more given file portions.