Software-defined storage: Difference between revisions

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'''Software-defined storage appliance''' ('''SDS''') is a marketing term for [[computer data storage]] software for policy-based provisioning and management of data storage independent of the underlying hardware. Software-defined storage typically includes a form of [[storage virtualization]] to separate the storage hardware from the software that manages it.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Definition: software-defined storage |author= Margaret Rouse |work= SearchSDN |publisher= Tech Target <!-- reliable? --> |url= http://searchsdn.techtarget.com/definition/software-defined-storage |accessdate= November 7, 2013 }}</ref> The software enabling a software-defined storage environment may also provide policy management for features such as [[data deduplication]], replication, [[thin provisioning]], snapshots and backup.

SDS hardware may or may not also have abstraction, pooling, or automation software of its own. When implemented as software only in conjunction with commodity servers with internal disks, it may suggest software such as a virtual or global [[file system]]. If it is software layered over sophisticated large storage arrays, it suggests software such as [[storage virtualization]] or [[storage resource management]], categories of products that address separate and different problems. If the policy and management functions also include a form of [[artificial intelligence]] to automate protection and recovery, it can be considered as intelligent abstraction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The foundation of clouds: Intelligent abstraction |author=Chris Poelker |date= March 12, 2014 |url= http://www.computerworld.com/article/2476040/cloud-computing/the-foundation-of-clouds--intelligent-abstraction.html}}</ref> Software-defined storage may be implemented via appliances over a traditional [[storage area network]] (SAN), or implemented as [[network-attached storage]] (NAS), or using object-based storage. In March 2014 the [[Storage Networking Industry Association]] (SNIA) began a report on software-defined storage.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://snia.org/sites/default/files/SNIA%20Software%20Defined%20Storage%20White%20Paper-%20v1.0k-DRAFT.pdf/|title=Technical Whitepaper:Software Defined Storage |author= SNIA |date= March 2014 }}</ref>