Backyard Chili Cookout, OneFS Style

Operating systems don’t usually get too much attention, but imagine using a computer without Windows or Mac OS. Sub-optimal.

When you deploy an Isilon scale-out storage solution, our OneFS® operating system is the foundation for all you’ll do. Add capacity and/or performance on the fly? OneFS lets you do that. Manage 15TB or 1500TB from a single point of management? Yep, that’s OneFS. Power transparent data tiering in a single file system (with SmartPools™)? That’s OneFS too. In short, OneFS is the engine driving all the capabilities of Isilon’s scale-out storage platform.

This is of course in direct contrast to traditional scale-up SAN or NAS. Think of it this way. You’re having a few friends over for dinner and you’re making your famous backyard chili. Sounds fun right? You’ve got a big stove, a big pot and all the ingredients, now it’s time to get cooking!

But then you get a call – surprise – your parents are coming by on a whim. And they’re bringing your uncle (a big eater) and his three children (chili eating contest champions). Oh, and you’re old college buddies saw you’re cooking chili on Facebook and now they’re on their way.

Now you need more pots. Lots more. Before you know it you’re switching pots on and off the stove, stirring one bowl here, adding ingredients to another there. Oh no, wait, did you just double the spices on that bowl? How long has that pot been on? Your grandmother’s second cousin’s aunt wants her chili really hot, but your uncle Jeffrey’s niece can’t even stand mild …

What’s that burning smell? Aaaargh!

Sound familiar? This is storage management pre-OneFS. Now let’s take a look at storage management with OneFS…

Same scenario. A backyard chili blowout. But this time as your guest list grows in size, so does your pot. Guest by guest, ounce by ounce, your pot seamlessly grows larger and larger, no matter how much beef, beans and spice you add. The stove’s heat goes up bit by bit automatically to keep the chili smoothly bubbling. One spoon to stir, one pot to cook with and one stove top to manage – with different levels of spice to boot. Sounds simple right? That’s OneFS.

To get technical, our world-class team engineering team has performed wizardry behind the curtain to take the complexity out of managing storage and let you get back to managing your data. Granular analytics with InsightIQ™? Check. Unlimited Snapshots with SnapshotIQ™? Check. A single file system, single volume and single point of management from 6TB to 10.4PB? Double check.

I’ll follow-up soon with a post diving into some of the technical details, but until then, just remember this equation: power + simplicity = OneFS.

About the Author: Nick Kirsch