At Syneto, we’re trying to run a different kind of business, one that truly listens to the customer. That’s why the many of the new features in this version were created in collaboration with our users.

Improved High Availability

The HA Clustering was still experimental in the last release. In the meantime we’ve been hard at work overhauling the entire feature.

• Improved HA user interface
• HA feature sends notifications
• Quorum HA disk is visually marked to prevent accidental removal
• Simultaneous pool imports in split head HA scenarios are prevented using SCSI reservation
• HA clusters can be created over Fibre Channel
• Resources can be migrated manually from one HA node to another

Smarter data pools

Data pool functionality has also received a lot of attention. For instance, when a pool is imported:

• iSCSI shares are automatically imported
• attached backup schedules are automatically imported
• attached VMware mappings are automatically imported

Easier to use iSCSI shares

The section has been visually transformed to make it even friendlier and easier to use.

Fast Tech. Support access

We pride ourselves by offering the best technical support possible. That’s why we’ve created an easy way to get help with just one click from the Help section.

ACL rules

This new version allows ACL rules to applied set and removed recursively on all subfolders

Other new features in 2.11

• Rolling back to a previous backup now restores shares on the folder/vdisk
• When joining Active Directory the user used to join will be mapped to local user root
• Allow limiting Active Directory access to specified organisational unit
• Improved internal logging system
• Replication key names can be edited
• Better user interface responsiveness
• Error messages when failing to join an Active Directory
• Specify maximum supported VMWare Hypervisor version

Fixes & Improvements

Our customers are very important so we always try to fix any quirks they might point out or others that we encounter along the way. Here are just a few:

• Sort manual replication history by date and time
• New mappings on datastore three will appear on refresh
• Allow removing failed log devices when in mirror with another one
• Allow creation of vlan with name: vlan
• Removing an aggregate removes all persistent information related to it
• Prevent user from manually exporting pools part of a HA
• Prevent adding duplicate replication keys
• Allow rollback of a backup after its last share was deleted
• Do not rely on client’s time when authenticating
• Imported pool automatically appears in statistics on dashboard
• Allow adding IPs from the same network on different interfaces

The post Storage OS 2.11 is here! See what’s new appeared first on Syneto.

There’s a question which we’re often asked here at Syneto: Isn’t Storage OS powered with Illumos, with the ZFS filesystem comparable to a Linux powered storage system with Logical Volume Manager, RAID protection and the Ext4 filesystem?

Frankly, no. And this is not just marketing talk. In this article we’ll study the technical feature differences that set Storage OS apart from a Linux data storage solution.

RAIDz

There’s a bunch of storage companies out there that are dishing out content telling you that a hardware RAID is better. While that might be true in some instances the software RAIDz is perfectly suited for a unified storage environment. Why? Because it’s far more cost effective. You don’t need to spend a ton of money on controller hardware which is very expensive. And secondly, it is far more easier to use. No need to spend a lot of time on configuring hardware controllers. It’s a win-win situation for both the vendor and the client.

RAIDz also eliminates the infamous RAID 5 write hole where data becomes inconsistent after a power loss. This means you don’t need to add expensive batteries to your storage.

Endian Independence

The ZFS filesystem on Storage OS writes every data structure in the byte order of the machine using it. More importantly, and here’s the breakthrough, Storage OS flags the byte order it uses. This results in the ability to swap disks between machines while maintaining usability.

This just isn’t possible with the Linux Ext4. If the machine the disk is inserted into doesn’t have the same level of endianness the data won’t be usable.

Dataset Import/Export

With ZFS importing or exporting data, a big help when trying to achieve a consistent Disaster Recovery strategy, is extremely easy and fully automated. This means the sending or receiving data can be done in just a few clicks. Less time and money!

Truthfully, this can also be achieved on the comparable Linux device, but it’s incredibly complicated. All the required steps must be done manually.

At-a-glance analytics

Storage OS uses iostat and dtrace to natively provide automatic, accurate IO usage. This means you can get information on your storage’s activity by quickly glancing at a few interactive graphs

This important feature is not automated on Linux. Everything needs to be laboriously done from the terminal.

On-the-fly Backups & Recoveries

The copy-on-write transactional model used by the ZFS in Storage OS can execute data Backups and Recoveries while the system is running. This means scheduled downtime for backups is a thing of the past. Backups on Storage OS are incremental, an aspect which allows you to back up data in mere seconds.

Backups and Recoveries on the comparable Linux device requires the system to be offline. This means that you’ll inevitably loose time and money every time you need your data saved.

Space savings, Clones and Rollback

For an organisation that is required by law to maintain extensive data archive, the size of a Backup is very important. Storage OS backups, with the right configuration, can use less than 1% of the total space. Rollbacks and Clones are also easily achieved due to the incremental model and the copy-on-write transactional model. There’s no need for the system to go through every change ever made in the data to achieve point-in-time consistency.

With Linux, on the other hand, backups take a lot more space. Sometime as much as the saved data itself. The system also needs to run through all the actions the data has taken to rollback to a point, let’s say, 4 months in the past.

Disk failures & Corruption

Here’s were things get interesting. While both ZFS and Linux can handle whole disk failure, Storage OS checksum’s all the data. This means that it can also handle disk corruption, and fix it. On Linux, corrupt data is lost most of the time. This self-healing capability is unique to ZFS.

Automatic Fault Notification

If something happens the sys. admin doesn’t necessarily have to be in the same room as the appliance to notice the little red LED (if there is one). Storage OS is equipped with a notification system that automatically email’s you the problem. If it’s a data corruption issue, the system sometimes heals itself and just informs you that the event took place.

Built-in Storage Efficiency

Storage OS features Data Compression, Deduplication and Thin Provisioning as default. These will help you store more data in the same space, for the same money and with a far greater level of control.

Curios for more? Download our Storage OS vs. Linux paper to see a full feature comparison.

The post Storage OS powered by Illumos vs. Linux. Which is better? appeared first on Syneto.

Support for VMware vCenter/ESX 5.1

You already know that Storage OS is the best way to store your VM data, so we always keep our VMware integration up to date. vSphere v. 5.1 make the VMware/Storage OS combo an even better at helping you build that better, greener, more efficient datacenter. Here’s a bit more information on the vSphere 5.1.

Transparent thick provisioned vdisk space requirements

Efficiency is the word of the day and one of the most important contributors to this is transparency. That’s why Storage OS gives you as much information on a first-glance basis as possible. Version 2.10 tells pre-calculates the amount of space a vdisk will require making the system even easier to use.

Default virtual disk block size

Newly created virtual disks will now have a 32k block size by default.

Export/Import of iSCSI/FC sharing configuration

The latest version of Syneto Storage OS allows you to import and export iSCSI and Fibre Channel sharing configurations such as host groups and LUN mappings.

Simple backup viewing for NFS users

Whenever an admin. is required to help a user accomplish a simple task, time and money is lost. Storage OS prevents this by allowing you to enable your NFS users to easily browse through they backups without contacting the storage administrator.

IP conflict display

If a network interface is down, the system now displays that another machine is using the same IP address. This make it easier to identify and remove IP conflicts on the same network.

More new features:

• Backup replication autocompletes destination folder name
• Fibre Channel configuration is now under System menu for easier access
• Active iSCSI/FC shares are disabled before disk pool export
• When importing a storage pool, existing logical unit numbers are also imported
• IP duplication prevention
• ESC key now closes dialog boxes
• Notification when a backup is skipped because the storage pool is scrubbing
• The system now allows you to replace a disk with a larger one

High Availability Clustering

What does a Storage OS HA cluster look like? It consists of Storage OS machines that continuously monitor each other for failures.

The machine machines running Storage OS are connected through various channels and communication protocols through which they exchange “heartbeats”. These pulses of information provide them with intelligence about their current status and that of the services running on them.

All this means you can gain business success through by easily collecting, protecting and accessing your data.

This feature is still experimental. Should this fact stop you from using it? No! Everything works and we actively encourage our users to try out new features an give us some feedback. So update your Storage OS to version 2.10 and contact Tech. Support to be one of the first to try the HA feature.

Last but not least, Fixes:

• Allow editing disk pool when in degraded state (has missing or broken disks)
• Prevent failure when replicating both daily and hourly backups to the same remote location
• Allow multiple iscsi shares for the same hostgroup on different targetgroups
• (Re)-add edit and delete buttons on folder/vdisk page

The post Storage OS 2.10 released; New features, HA clustering and more… appeared first on Syneto.

Alberto Brunisso, a 40 year old Italian, is just such a man. When we found out he planned to ride his bicycle from Mexico to Canada, a huge feat of human endurance, we immediately decided to support him the whole way.

The numbers speak for themselves:

• 4430 km in 21 days
• 66 000 meters in altitude difference
• -5C to 45C in temperature difference

Congratulations Alberto! Keep going!

The post Pushing the limits of human endurance with Syneto appeared first on Syneto.

Smooth-talk aside, here’s the juicy stuff:

Asynchronous destroy of folders, virtual disks and backups

Building on the strong usability of Syneto Storage, we’ve created a transparent way of “destroying” folders, virtual disks and backups in the background. This asynchronous method means you can still perform management tasks while this process is ongoing.

Replacing a failed disk in a pool can be done from web interface

A disk failure usually means tons of works for any administrator. With this new version, the amount of tasks required to mend this issue has been reduced to a minimum. You can now replace the faulty drive physically and easily select is as a replacement from the interface.

Convert virtual disks from thin provisioning to thick provisioning and back

The efficiency of your data storage is always one of our top priorities. Usually storing data more efficiently means cutting back on the flexibility. Not any more! Virtual disks on Syneto Storage can now be converted to and from Thin Provisioning without any hassle.

Replication keys description can be configured

This latest version also includes a new feature for replication. We have added a description option to every replication key so you can tell where the data belongs at a glance.

Admin can delete expired licenses that generate notifications

Old licenses can sometimes turn out to be a nuisance with prompting you with notifications about their passed expiration dates. You can now delete these expired license in just a few clicks.

A cleanup to prevent running out of free space on system pool

We think the point of every storage system is to make data administration easier and safer. That’s why we’ve version 2.9 contains this new feature that cleans up old system installations and safeguards the system pool from running out of space. That’s one less thing for you to worry about.

What’s been fixed?

• We’ve fixed an issue with a few ESXi basic licenses that didn’t display correctly as Enterprise instead of Small Business
• An issue that required a new login after a license has been loaded to access formerly locked features.
• Hourly back-ups will not be sent when only daily ones are configured

Download Syneto Storage OS for free from our download section. You can use this fully featured version for free up to 1TB of managed space.

The post A new milestone: Syneto Storage OS 2.9 released appeared first on Syneto.