OpenStack Storage: HP Adds Support for 3PAR in Kilo

HP announced it is bringing new HP storage support to the 11th OpenStack release called Kilo, which launched earlier this week.

Now a regular contributor to multiple OpenStack projects. HP is committing new solutions for Kilo that focus on the enterprise and support application-centric, automated, converged storage management. Taking a flexible hybrid cloud infrastructure approach HP notes that its contributions are designed to increase OpenStack storage and management efficiency in order to reduce acquisition and operational costs in cloud and hybrid environments.

Bringing support for its 3PAR arrays into OpenStack, HP is offering "flash caching," or the use of flash capacity as a virtual extension to storage system DRAM cache. Manilla file services will allow 3PAR StoreServ Storage to serve both block and file workloads in open cloud and hybrid environments.

HP says it is also contributing an elevator scheduler for assigning storage resources based on workload requirements and thin deduplication for increasing capacity utilization.

"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, said in a statement. “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."

After rebranding and re-launching cloud offerings several times and forging the Helion line about a year ago, HP launched its OpenStack distribution called Helion last fall. The company now claims several large companies are using the distro worldwide.

HP will incorporate OpenStack Kilo into future Helion OpenStack releases.