Storage Expansion Devices for Low-Latency Cloud Edge Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data center networks face challenges in managing and provisioning physical computing resources due to increased scale and complexity, and services provided by cloud providers may not be optimal for applications requiring low latency and high data processing at customer premises.
Innovation Solution
A provider substrate extension (PSE) is deployed on-premises, providing a collection of resources that mimic the functionality of a cloud provider network, allowing customers to provision, manage, and operate computing resources locally while maintaining security and scalability, and using techniques like object gateways and storage expansion devices to reduce latency and data access delays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data storage hardware is located at provider network data centers, then centralized management and security are improved, but data access latency and transfer time worsen for applications at customer premises
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system is segmented into multiple components: storage expansion devices (SEDs) deployed at customer premises and storage services at provider network data centers. The SEDs handle local data access to reduce latency, while the provider network maintains centralized control for security and management. This segmentation allows the system to simultaneously achieve low-latency local access and centralized security management.
2Speed
If computing resources are deployed at customer premises, then data access speed and responsiveness are improved, but device complexity and provisioning difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The provider network acts as an intermediary that manages the complexity of deploying and provisioning storage resources at customer premises. The provider network provides virtualization services that abstract the underlying hardware complexity, allowing customers to access standardized storage interfaces regardless of the physical deployment location. This intermediary layer simplifies provisioning while enabling fast local data access.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses virtualization to create virtual copies of storage resources that can be deployed at customer premises while maintaining the same interface and management model as cloud-based storage. This allows computing resources to be copied to edge locations for improved speed while the virtualization layer maintains consistent complexity management through standardized interfaces.
3Productivity
If storage resources are virtualized and shared across multiple users, then resource utilization efficiency is improved, but security isolation and access control complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The virtualization system implements self-service mechanisms where storage resources automatically manage their own security isolation and access control. The virtualization layer provides built-in security features that automatically enforce isolation between users without requiring manual configuration. This allows efficient resource sharing while keeping security management automated and relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A first one or more messages is received, the one or more messages including a request for a storage expansion device for an extension of a provider network, an identifier of the extension of the provider network, and a set of one or more identifiers associated with objects to load to the storage expansion device. For each identifier in the set, an object associated with the identifier is copied from an object store of the provider network to the storage expansion device. A shipment of the storage expansion device to a specified location is initiated. The extension of the provider network is caused to launch an instance to communicate with the storage expansion device upon connection of the storage expansion device to the extension of the provider network.