HP contributes to OpenStack Kilo, expects to support it in HP Helion OpenStack

HP today announced it has made multiple contributions to the OpenStack Kilo release, including new converged storage management automation and new flash storage technologies to support flexible, enterprise-class clouds.

According to HP, enterprises are deploying open source technology such as OpenStack to overcome private and public cloud challenges, including vendor lock-in, lack of control or customisability, and the inability to scale applications for the cloud.

As a testament to the company’s ongoing commitment to open source cloud technology, HP is a Platinum Founding member of the OpenStack Foundation and a key contributor to multiple OpenStack projects, including funding, code, reviews, testing, and training. HP currently holds eight Program Team Lead positions and four Technical Committee membership positions. In addition, two HP employees currently sit on the OpenStack Board of Directors*.
HP Helion OpenStack was released in October 2014, offering a free community download and fully-supported version of OpenStack code. Today, HP Helion is used by large enterprises worldwide including Hitachi Systems and Symantec. HP intends to incorporate support for OpenStack Kilo into future HP Helion OpenStack releases. 

HP’s storage contributions to the OpenStack Kilo release focus on two strategic goals: supporting application-centric, automated, converged storage management; and, helping make environments that use Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) server virtualisation technology truly enterprise-ready.

These contributions are designed to increase storage and management efficiency in order to reduce acquisition and operational costs in cloud and hybrid environments via the following new capabilities: 

Evaluator scheduler—improves management productivity and increases resource efficiency by automatically assigning storage resources to meet incoming requests based on workload requirements.

Adaptive flash cache—reduces the overall cost of delivering I/O-intensive workloads in cloud environments by allowing “flash caching”—the use of flash capacity as a virtual extension to storage system DRAM cache.

Thin deduplication with express indexing—drives up capacity utilisation and increases the life of flash drives used for virtualised workloads by 75% percent via data compaction using inline, block-level deduplication**.

Manila files services—allows HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage to serve both block and file workloads in open cloud and hybrid environments using a single, cost-optimised pool of storage that occupies one third less space***.

"Enterprises today struggle with the ‘all-in-one’ cloud model because they don’t use a single operating system or database software or management tool,” said Eileen Evans, HP Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Software, Cloud, and Open Source. “HP’s approach is to support a flexible hybrid cloud infrastructure with open source technologies as its core DNA, and this includes a commitment to supporting OpenStack technology at the storage layer.”

*More about the OpenStack Foundation

**As compared to not using data compaction technologies. Based on a 4:1 data compaction ratio achieved with the combination of thin provisioning and thin deduplication.

***Based on HP internal analysis compared to EMC VNX, September 2014.