GIT-CERCS-07-22
Himanshu Raj, Karsten Schwan,
O2S2: Enhanced Object-based Virtualized Storage
Object based storage devices (OSDs) elevate the level of abstraction presented
to clients, thereby permitting them to offer methods for managing, sharing,
and securing information that go beyond those offered by block-based stores.
The Object-Oriented Storage System (O2S2) architecture presented and
evaluated in this paper implements a virtualization service to provide
object-based storage in a virtualized environment.
This service provides a virtual object-based storage device (vOSD) to
virtual machines. The use of
vOSDs permits the service provider, i.e., the vOSD storage domain, to offer
to guest virtual machines new methods for resource management and consolidation,
without requiring the purchase of physical storage devices that faithfully
implement OSD functionality. Methods demonstrated in this paper include
improved support for access control and for heterogeneity of storage devices.
Advantages derived from such methods also include reduced complexity for end
clients, i.e., guest VMs. A prototype PVFS-based O2S2 implementation
demonstrates that its enhanced services can be
provided at low cost, enabled in part by the efficient utilization of otherwise
idle domain resources.