Comment " #Softwaredefinedstorage " is something end users love, and the industry is going precisely in that direction. The only problem I have with it is that, as happens with other buzzwords, the term is being over-abused, and generalization leads to confusion.
I know that I'm not the first to raise this problem, but now that real software-defined storage solutions are appearing in the market, the terminology issue has become more problematic. As always, marketing is the first to be blamed, but finding someone who is NOT responsible for this situation can be quite difficult.
According to Wikipedia, in networking "software-defined" means:
Software-defined networking ( #SDN ) is an approach to computer networking that allows network administrators to manage network services through abstraction of higher-level functionality. This is done by decoupling the system that makes decisions about where traffic is sent (the control plane) from the underlying systems that forward traffic to the selected destination (the data plane). The inventors and vendors of these systems claim that this simplifies networking.
In my humble opinion, the last sentence is the best part. To simplify, #SDS means a separation between the control plane (where things are decided) and the data plane (where things happen).
The only two examples of true software-defined storage that I'm aware of are #EMC #ViPR and #PrimaryData (but feel free to leave a comment if you think differently). The first one has failed miserably because it just wasn't enough – I'd say rudimentary and incomplete – while the latter has all the potential to revolutionize the way large enterprises can do storage.
I've already talked about Primary Data in the past (comparing them to Nicira – now #VMware #NSX), and given that I've met them twice in the last two months I can confirm that, on paper, the solution is really great. Now that the product is available, it's up to them to demonstrate what they can really do. Looking at the various demos available and at the features they already have (and are promising), I think they deserve a lot of attention.
By the way, if you look at Primary Data's home page and collateral, they are the first to be uncomfortable using the term "software-defined." It isn't mentioned, and even though the Wikipedia definition fits very well with what it describes on its home page, Primary Data doesn't use it. I can understand why; it doesn't want to be associated with a meaningless word.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/04/poorly_defined_storage_vs_primary_data/
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