Before jumping into specific use cases, let's look at the following key points that should be understood and considered before thinking about deploying a Ceph cluster:
- Ceph is not a storage array: Ceph should not be compared to a traditional scale-up storage array; it is fundamentally different, and trying to shoe horn Ceph into that role using existing knowledge, infrastructure, and expectations will lead to disappointment. Ceph is software-defined storage with internal data movements that operate over TCP/IP networking, introducing several extra layers of technology and complexity compared to a simple SAS cable at the rear of a traditional storage array. Work is continuing within the Ceph project to expand its reach into areas currently dominated by legacy storage arrays with support for iSCSI and NFS, and with each release, Ceph gets nearer to achieving...