One of the problems with application workload evolution is infrastructure agility when deploying new storage paradigms.
How can a customer quickly add new capability (e.g. object-based storage, HDFS) without waiting to (a) acquire
a new storage system, (b) train the staff to install and manage it, and (c) go
through the process of integrating it with the application?
In the same way that server virtualization changed the agility model of application deployment, there are new industry paradigms emerging for rapid storage deployment on top of existing infrastructure.
If you are at VMworld this week and are interested in this paradigm, I recommend that you investigate the latest output of EMC’s Open Innovation Lab (OIL) team: the EMC Hadoop Starter Kit. This kit leverages the following key elements:
- A Big Data Extension OVF (Serengeti)
- VMware vSphere
- Isilon HDFS
For VMware customers that already have an Isilon in their infrastructure, they can use EMC’s kit to quickly deploy HDFS capability onto their infrastructure with no capital acquisition costs. This brings with it several benefits:
- A repeatable method for enabling “Hadoop as a Service”.
- A friction-less approach to quickly build an analytic sandbox for Hadoop experimentation.
- The ability to layer Hadoop analytics on top of data that already exists within the Isilon system (zero data migration).
The HSK overcomes two of the common problems that often get in the way of rolling out a Hadoop deployment for the first time:
- Confusion over which Hadoop distribution to use.
- Deploying Hadoop using the skillsets and equipment that alread exist in IT (as opposed to purchasing new equipment and/or waiting for IT to acquire new skillsets before deployment).
There are a number of different ways to dive deeper into the details of this kit. The best option, if you are at VMworld this week, is to stop by the EMC booth and have a face-to-face discussion with Ed and Jim.
Otherwise, more detail can be found in Dan Baskette’s blog, the HSK White paper, while Jim has also recorded a longer discussion about the HSK initiative in the video below:
For more information about EMC’s newly-formed Open Innovation Lab, please refer to the OIL introduction post by Ed Walsh.
Steve
EMC Fellow
