Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

Object Storage
A Fresh Approach to Long-Term
File Storage
A Dell Technical White Paper

Dell Product Group

Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

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May 2010
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Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

Contents
Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 4
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 4
The new challenges of unstructured data .......................................................................... 5
A Need for New File Storage Solutions .............................................................................. 6
A fresh approach: Object Storage .................................................................................. 7
Object Storage and Traditional NAS Coexist ....................................................................... 9
Object Storage in Intelligent Data Management ................................................................ 10
Summary ............................................................................................................... 11

Figures
Figure 1.
Figure 2.

Example contrasting the amount of metadata associated with an Object vs. a File .......... 7
The frequency of data usage is a factor in using Object vs. traditional file storage ........ 10

Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

Executive Summary
The world is increasingly awash in digital data not only because of the Internet and Web 2.0, but also
because data that used to be collected on paper or media such as film, DVDs and compact discs has
moved online. Most of this data is unstructured and in diverse formats such as e-mail, instant
messages, documents, spreadsheets, graphics, images, and videos. For storage managers, the growth
in unstructured data is proving to be a challenge: Companies require the data be readily accessible for
business, regulatory and compliance needs, but traditional file storage management systems such as
NAS are proving to be both costly and inadequate. With unstructured data growth expected to
continue unabated -- at a compound annual growth rate estimated to exceed 60 per cent1 -- storage
managers are looking at new ways to cope. An alternative that has emerged is Object Storage. This is
an approach that is designed to solve many of the traditional NAS shortcomings, and is considered more
cost effective. However, it is not a one size fits all solution and traditional NAS will continue to have
a strong role to play in todays storage environment. In this white paper we explore Object Storage,
compare it to traditional NAS, and demonstrate that an intelligent, policy based data management
strategy is the best approach to determining when it is beneficial for organizations to use Object
Storage, or continue to use NAS.

Introduction
We live in interesting digital times. It used to be that computers primarily stored structured data such
as financial and supply chain information. This has changed. Today, more and more of the worlds
unstructured data everything from videos, music files, blogs, images, instant messages and even the
day-to-day paperwork generated by businesses is being created, distributed and stored digitally. This
is a phenomenon that is pervading all aspects of human life: In the doctors office, for example, x-rays
that were once produced on films are now created and stored digitally. In banks, cashed checks that
used to be stored in microfiche are now stored on computer hard drives. Legal contracts, too, which
had been solely be paper based are now created and stored digitally, with digital signatures taking
the place of handwritten ones. The end result is an explosion of predominantly unstructured data
being stored on computer storage systems. It is estimated that the amount of digital information will
double every 18 months, with 95% of this coming from unstructured data, and only the remaining 5%
being driven by traditional structured data 2. Unstructured data is expected to far outpace the growth
of structured data well into the future.

For storage managers, this phenomenal growth in data, particularly in unstructured data, is creating
new challenges. It means they must continue to find cost effective storage strategies while ensuring
data is available as needed for business or compliance requirements. It means they must make sure
the data is well protected according to back-up and retention policies. But it now also means that they
must ask how they are to best accomplish these goals as well as what they need to do differently when most of the data they are managing is unstructured and inherently different from structured
data.

Object storage gains steam as unstructured data grows, Beth Pariseau, Storage Magazine,
November/December 2009
2
IDC White Paper sponsored by EMC, As the Economy Contracts, the Digital Universe Expands, May 2009
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Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

The new challenges of unstructured data

Unstructured data has two characteristics that make it a greater challenge to manage than structured
data. First, it is hard to maintain the context of the data. Second, it is difficult to know the content
within an unstructured data file. In combination, these two characteristics make it difficult for storage
managers to understand the value of an unstructured data file and how it needs to be protected in
primary, secondary, or archival storage. The two characteristics also make it difficult to determine
whether the data needs to be backed up and, if so, for how long it should be retained. And,
importantly, the characteristics make it difficult for storage managers to help their organizations
maximize the value of the information e.g. for business intelligence purposes within unstructured
data. To understand this more fully, consider the difference between unstructured and structured
data.
Structured data is most often generated to support a transaction and is then stored in a relational
database. This makes it easy for storage managers to understand both the content and context of the
data. For example, if a customer places a purchase order, it is easy to track the customers name,
address, item being ordered, and the required delivery date by querying the tables in a database.
Similarly, if an investor places a stock trade, it is easy to track the investors name, account number,
the stock being purchased, the purchase price, and the date on which the transaction was made. Since
structured data often supports transactions, it is necessary for this data to remain immediately
accessible. For example, if an investor decides to sell a stock theyve purchased, it is necessary for a
stock broker to immediately recall the purchase price in order to properly credit the gain or loss to the
investors account. Taking this example further, it is also easy for storage managers to track the
context of the transaction to understand when it is closed, will no longer be required, and therefore
safe to move to archival storage.

Unstructured information is different. It is often generated at the time of a particular event and then
stored outside of a database. It also may not be touched or needed again after the particular event.
Take x-rays, for example. These are most often created to help a physician diagnose a patient. Once
the diagnosis is complete and if the patient is cured, the x-rays are no longer needed and are stored
away. On the other hand, if the patient continues treatment, the x-rays may need to be recalled. This
example shows the challenges in managing unstructured data and the importance of understanding the
context around the data -- x-rays which are no longer needed should be sent to archival storage, while
those still needed should be kept on near-line storage. The difficulty with unstructured data is that
there isnt a mechanism analogous to a database that allows this context to be maintained. Instead,
the context is often lost or separated from the data, and storage managers must make decisions based
purely on the data type e.g. the x-ray image - itself.

Similarly, it is difficult to know the content in unstructured data and use this information to help guide
storage decisions. Consider, for example, a company that stores its product blueprint drawings as JPEG
files. Without knowing the content in the companys JPEG files, storage managers can incorrectly give
the blueprint files the same importance and storage priority as the JPEG picture files sent around to
announce the arrival of an employees new born baby. Similarly, for example, storing HR (e.g.
employee offer letter or performance review) information for an employee clearly has a different
priority than the minutes for a staff meeting even though the data for both may be stored within the
same Microsoft Word format.
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Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

Given the characteristics of unstructured data, the difficult question facing storage managers is how
they can effectively and efficiently store this data and be mindful of both the context around, and the
content, within the data to make the right storage decisions. Part of the challenge in solving this
problem is that storage managers are working with a limited set of storage tools. Todays dominant
approach is to store unstructured data on file systems such as Network Attached Storage (NAS).
However, NAS was designed in a different age and time, when the world was much less digitized and
unstructured data was not as prevalent as it is today.

A Need for New File Storage Solutions

File systems were invented approximately 30 years ago to provide an interface for end users and
applications to store file (non database) data. They were designed originally to allow concurrent
access to smaller groups of data files shared among a few users. As such, they were built to enable
both read and write operations; hence file systems included overhead to manage permissions, and
operations such as file locking. Today, however, much of the unstructured data that is generated does
not require concurrent access. This means that the file systems overhead is unnecessary and simply
adds cost and complexity. This is particularly an issue if the context or content of the unstructured
data requires that it should be stored in secondary or archival storage. In this case, using NAS storage
for unstructured data means that too high a price is being paid for capacity to store aged or rarely
accessed data.
In addition, file systems store data in hierarchical structures (trees) consisting of directories, folders,
subfolders and files. The objective of a file system, then, is to manage the location of data according
to a logical sequence and via an easily understood hierarchy of nested folders. As a consequence, the
content and data contained within a file is not important and each file will have only basic metadata
attached to it. For example, viewing a file directory will tell you the file name, when it was created,
when it was last modified, the file type, and potentially the person who created the file.
This limited amount of meta-data associated with each file means that IT teams do not have the
context and content information they need to efficiently manage and use the unstructured data they
have in their organization. They cannot, for example, know where to automatically place an individual
file in a storage tier since they do not know the content of the files or its importance. They cannot
tell, for example, whether a particular file is important to backup, or maintain for compliance reasons.
This lack of knowledge at the individual file level means instead they must rely on blanket policies that
apply across file types (e.g. all JPEG files must be stored indefinitely).
Compounding the problem is that as the amount of data grows, so do the number of nested folders.
The result is a set of large tree structures that makes it cumbersome and challenging to find any
particular file, especially if the specific name, date created, or file type is not known. In addition, as
the tree structure grows, the performance of the file system starts to degrade and backup becomes
more difficult.
There is a mismatch between the cost, design and capabilities of file systems such as traditional NAS
and the new requirements for storing the unstructured or file-based data being generated today. It is
clear that a fresh approach is required.

Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

A fresh approach: Object Storage

Object storage is an approach to storage where data is combined with rich metadata in order to
preserve information about both the context and the content of the data. To see the difference
between Object Storage and traditional File Storage, consider the example of storing an MRI scan as a
file versus as an object, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Example contrasting the amount of metadata associated with an Object vs. a File

When an MRI scan is stored as a file the typical metadata attached to it is basic and may include only
information such as file name, creation data, creator, and file type. When the MRI scan is stored as an
Object, on the other hand, the generating application can include all the file metadata plus additional
metadata information that might summarize the content contained within the file and include the
patient name, the patients ID, the procedure date, the attending physicians name, the physicians
notes, as well as any other metadata that can help add context to the MRI scan.
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Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

The metadata present in Object Storage gives users the context and content information they need to
properly manage and access unstructured data. They can easily search for data without knowing
specific filenames, dates or traditional file designations. They can also use the metadata to apply
policies for routing, retention and deletion as well as automate storage management. For example,
with the MRI scan, a storage policy can be set to look at the metadata associated with it, track the
patients name and then determine if the patient is currently admitted to the hospital. If the patient
is not, the MRI scan can be sent to archival storage. On the other hand, if the MRI object is for a
current patient who is admitted for ongoing treatment, the object can be routed to near-line storage
so that it can be immediately retrieved the next time the patient visits the hospital. As another
example, if a storage manager comes across an MP3 file and the metadata indicates that the data
contained within it is an employees personal music file, the storage policy will know to manage it
differently than if the MP3 file was the recording of something important to the company or institution
(e.g. a physicians recorded notes).

A richer set of metadata can also make it easier to apply eDiscovery and business intelligence tools to
help an organization uncover data assets and gain new insights. For example, the metadata can make
it possible for a hospital to find all stored MRIs for a particular disease and then collect statistics on,
for example, the number of MRI scans done per stage of the disease condition to help allocate
resources. In this way, object storage helps to ensure that the value of information contained within
unstructured data is maximized and preserved for future use.
Objects are also useful in directly keeping related information together by enabling multiple file types
to be grouped together. For example, it is possible to group the MRI image with the physicians
recorded notes (in an MP3 file) along with the text file that has the patients history. This is similar to
the way that information is managed in the paper based world where a patients file can contain
different file types. And similar to the way that a traditional hospital file may be used, the object with
its grouped files can be used by any subsequent physician treating the patient to easily access the
previous physicians notes attached to the scan and obtain additional context about the patients
condition.

An object is also different from a file in that a unique ID is assigned and associated with each object.
This ID is generated using a 128-bit random number generator and guarantees that every object is
uniquely identified. It allows objects to be stored in an infinitely vast flat address space containing
billions of objects without the complexity file systems impose. Similar to the function of URLs in the
Internet, an Object ID serves as the unique pointer to the object; hence there is no directory hierarchy
(or tree) and the objects location does not have to be specified in the same way that a files
directory path has to known in order to retrieve it. The unique identifier also allows objects to be
easily migrated from one storage node or system to another without interrupting application or user
access if the underlying hardware is being upgraded.
In addition to the unique Object ID a hash signature also has a strong role to play in managing storage
for unstructured data, particularly in the removal of duplicates and in helping to address compliance
mandates. Since the hash signature associated with each object is generated according to the data
contained within the object, if the same signature is recognized as already being in the hash table, it is
immediately known that duplicate data exists in the storage system. With this knowledge, storage
managers can decide how they want to treat it.
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Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

Similarly, demonstrating that data has not been tampered with is one of the important requirements
where compliance is important. One way to prove this, if required, is to show that the hash signature
has not changed. With Object Storage, if the data is changed or tampered with, the hash computed to
verify authenticity will change and not be allowed. Conversely, if the data has not been modified, the
hash signature remains the same, which can provide proof, if and when required, that the data is
correct and authentic. This property makes Object Storage useful for archiving data while protecting
it, and in helping to meet regulatory requirements, particularly for data that has high legal or
compliance risk.
In addition to its storage management benefits, Object Storage, deployed effectively, can also be more
cost effective than NAS. This is for two reasons. First, Object Storage does not require much of the
overhead present with NAS to manage inodes, concurrent read/writes, file locks and permissions that
improves performance and enables massive scaling in terms of object count and capacity. As a result,
companies can simply and affordably scale object storage to petabytes of data a key advantage as
they look to manage the rapidly growing amount of unstructured data. Secondly, storage managers can
use the metadata contained within objects to appropriately route to the right storage tier and free up
primary storage capacity. This allows organizations to reduce costs in comparison to file storage
where, in contrast, data may be needlessly stored on more expensive tiers because there is not enough
information about the data to make sure it is stored at the most cost effective storage tier.

Object Storage and Traditional NAS Coexist

Object Storage works best when large numbers (millions or billions) of unstructured data files need to
be stored. In this case, the storage interfaces that are present with file systems, e.g. separate LUNs,
folders and permissions are inefficient overhead. Object Storage is ideal for archiving when the data is
relatively static and not frequently accessed. This isnt a restrictive criterion for Object Storage use
cases. By some estimates, 70% of data that is generated is never accessed after its initial creation and
remains static, while 20% is semi-active3.

However, 10% of all data is actively used, and it is for this data that traditional file systems, such as
NAS, are best suited. For example, a company developing marketing collateral will often have a team
working on the content. This team will collaborate and in doing so may be simultaneously reading and
writing to the data (contained in a Microsoft Word document). In these I/O and performance
prioritized cases, traditional file storage systems like NAS can, and will, continue to play a role.
Consequently, as shown in Figure 2, the frequency of data usage is a driver for multiple storage system
types within a storage environment and demonstrates that both Object Storage and traditional file
storage systems have strong roles to play within an organization.

Measurement & Analysis of Large-Scale Network File System Workloads, University of California Santa
Cruz, 2008
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Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

Figure 2.

The frequency of data usage is a factor in using Object vs. traditional file storage

Object Storage in Intelligent Data Management

One of the primary benefits of Object Storage is the role that it can play in intelligent data
management. For storage managers, the mantra they are increasingly working with is to store
everything and store it forever. The traditional brute force approach to this problem is to
continuously throw storage resources at the data. This unfortunately only provides short term relief
with ever growing volumes of data, storage managers find that their budgets are strained trying to
keep up. Dell is focused on developing approaches to help organizations intelligently manage their
data. The idea is to automatically route data to the right storage systems and the right tier and
protection levels within those systems according to its value and stage in the data lifecycle. Through
this approach, the most expensive high performance systems are reserved for frequently accessed
primary data. Infrequently accessed secondary data is routed to comparatively less expensive storage
arrays, ensuring that costs are minimized. Object Storage, with its rich metadata, can play a
significant role in automating Intelligent Data Management for unstructured data by enabling users to
apply policies based on metadata values and automatically route data to the right storage systems. In
this way, Object Storage provides organizations with new capabilities to increase the efficiency by
which they can manage and optimize storage.

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Object Storage: A New Approach to Long-Term File Storage

Summary
As an increasing amount of the Worlds information is born and lives
digital, IT organizations will need to simultaneously manage two
challenges. The first is that most of the digitized information will be
unstructured, which means that it is inherently highly variable and
not easily managed without understanding the content and context of
the data. The second will be the huge growth in data both currently
and in the years ahead. This growth in data will exceed the
capabilities of the file systems upon which storage managers have
traditionally relied to store unstructured (non database) data. As the
volume of unstructured data continues to grow, organizations will
find it increasingly difficult to cope.

Object Storage is a promising solution for managing the complexities

of unstructured data and ensuring long-term retention and access
that flexibly scales to meet high growth in terms of the number of
objects and storage capacity. It uses rich metadata attached to the
data to carry information about the information. This gives users
the information they need to understand the content and context of
the data. Object Storage also provides a unique identifier for each
distinct data object helping to ensure it can be specifically located
and retrieved. The separation of the identifier from the hash
signature is a powerful tool for enabling decisions on how to deal with
duplicate data in storage, and ensures the hash can be upgraded since
it is not used as the address for objects. The hash signature is also a
powerful mechanism for helping to meet compliance mandates if
the data is tampered with, the signature will change and if the hash is
compromised it can be upgraded to a more secure algorithm.

DellTM DX Object Storage Platform

Efficiently Store, Access and Distribute
Digital Content

The Dell DX Object Storage Platform is a

complete, integrated hardware and
software solution designed to optimize
the management of storage and
preservation of unstructured file data.
The solution is object based and
metadata aware, giving you the ability to
identify and retrieve information quickly
and automatically manage data from
creation through deletion. The DX Object
Storage platform is designed to support
your data management strategies enabling you to store, manage and
distribute digital content effectively and
efficiently without locking yourself into a
costly inflexible architecture that wont
fit your long term needs.

Object Storage is an ideal solution for efficiently managing large

unstructured data sets and for archiving data with high compliance
and legal risk such as medical and legal records, e-mail, invoices and
financial records. It is also useful in helping to unlock the value of
For more information visit
stored content through business intelligence applied to the objects
www.dell.com/datamanagement
metadata, and it does not require much of the management and
backup overhead present with file systems. As such, it is designed to
lower the cost of storage, and let organizations affordably scale to
petabytes of data. In addition, by enabling users to correctly differentiate data instead of treating it
all equally, Object Storage provides the benefit of freeing up capacity on primary storage a particular
concern in tough budgetary times. It also opens the door to exciting new possibilities for data
management by providing the information needed to define policies for intelligently and automatically
routing data to the right storage systems and the right tiers in those systems according to its value and
stage in the datas lifecycle. In sum, Object Storage is a very powerful approach to long-term file
storage.

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