Traditional large-scale storage solutions often feature expensive, proprietary hardware that presents physical, management, security, and even electrical challenges when integrating into a data center populated with familiar network and server gear. Ceph, by design, does not prescribe specific hardware component types or models. Hardware vendor lock-in is avoided, and the architect is able to choose server and network components that meet individual cost, standards, performance, and physical criteria. Ceph's distributed design also affords tremendous flexibility over time as needs change and hardware product lines cycle and evolve. You may build your cluster from one set of gear today only to find that tomorrow's needs, constraints, and budget are distinctly different. With Ceph, you can seamlessly add capacity or refresh aging gear with very different models, completely transparently to your users. It is entirely straightforward to perform a 100% replacement of a cluster's...