Welcome to our latest blog post, where we delve into the exciting new features introduced in VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension version 3.0. In this release, VMware Cloud Director continues to enhance its cloud infrastructure solutions, empowering providers with more flexibility, enriched accessibility, scalability, and efficiency. Let’s dive into the details of what’s new in this version.
VMware Cloud Director Solution Add-on Installation: A key development in version 3.0 is the streamlined installation process for VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension. This feature has extended the solution accessibility for providers, as the administrators can now conveniently install, upgrade and uninstall the extensions directly from VMware Cloud Director Add-on UI. Cloud Providers can ensure smoother operations with simplified management tasks following this update.
With the add-on installation, the solutions operate as a container application within a Kubernetes environment. Cloud Providers can deploy the extensions to a Tanzu Kubernetes Grid multi-cloud cluster with the solution organization or to a CNCF- compliant Kubernetes Cluster outside of VMware Cloud Director. This is an improvement which offers flexibility and seamless integration with various infrastructure setups, enhancing deployment option for Cloud Providers. In addition, the integration with Tanzu Kubernetes Grid brings additional benefits such as optimized operation through standard packages like Contour for service load balancing, Cert-manager for TLS certificate management, and Grafana service metrics.
Day 2 Deployment Configuration through UI: Cloud Provider administrators now have enhanced control over VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension configuration directly from the VMware Cloud Director provider portal. Tasks such as setting replica numbers, managing TLS certificates, connecting to databases, configuring storage platforms, and more can be triggered through the UI. These UI enhancements streamline the configuration process, making it more intuitive and efficient for administrators.
VMware Cloud Director Extension for Data Solutions Integration: Version 3.0 introduces intuitive integration with VMware Postgres instances from the Solutions organization, enabling provider administrators to designate them as the database for VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension. This integration simplifies database management tasks and enhances the overall efficiency of the solution.
Rolling Updates: With the add-on installation, VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension now supports rolling updates, ensuring that configuration changes are automatically verified and applied. Cloud Provider administrators can easily scale out or scale in the extension directly from the VMware Cloud Director provider portal, yet another feature that enhances operational flexibility and agility.
Enhancements for S3 and OSIS: Version 3.0 brings significant improvements to S3 support, including the ability to return ARNs for tenant storage users and an enhanced user experience for Kubernetes cluster protection. Additionally, the Object Storage Interoperability Services (OSIS) interface has been enhanced to accommodate and adapt to various storage vendors, improving compatibility and interoperability.
Refreshed Support Matrix: Finally, version 3.0 introduces a refreshed support matrix, certifying new versions of products including VMware Cloud Director, VMware Cloud Director Container Service Extension, and various storage platforms. This ensures compatibility and reliability for providers leveraging VMware’s cloud infrastructure solutions.
With VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension version 3.0, VMware Cloud Director continues to empower providers with enhanced capabilities, flexibility, and efficiency in managing cloud infrastructure. From streamlined installation, and enriched accessibility and configuration processes to improved integration and support, this release brings significant benefits to providers and their customers alike. Stay tuned for more updates as VMware Cloud Director continues to innovate and evolve its cloud solutions.
Additional Information
Object Storage Extension 3.0 Release Notes
Check out the release notes and the documentation page to get an in-depth understanding of the new features, upgrade process, caveats and limitations.
NetApp® StorageGRID® in Storage Services
VMware and NetApp announced the integration of NetApp object storage services from StorageGRID® within the VMware Cloud Director Object Storage extensibility framework. The jointly engineered solution provides customers with intelligent, fast, and future-proofed object storage. By selecting NetApp® StorageGRID® as the object storage of choice within the VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension, cloud service providers can benefit from greater data analytics, faster data retrieval, and enriched scalability which is rare with traditional file- or block-based storage.
Learn More
Scality RING in Storage Services
VMware and Scality embarked on a joint engineering project to develop Scality RING. Scality RING offers cyber-resilient enterprise-grade S3-compatible object Storage integrated into VMware Cloud Director. Cloud Services Providers can create modern cloud data centers by choosing RING for a wide range of use cases such as backup-as-a-service, ransomware protection-as-a-service, and big data analytics. Learn more
VMware Partner Program™ for Object Storage Extension
Partners can integrate any S3-compliant object storage platform with VMware Cloud Director using the Object Storage Interoperability Service (OSIS) extension point. This Partner Ready program enables partners to validate their OSIS implementations, known as an OSIS adapter, using the VMware-offered certification kit. Through the validated OSIS adapter published in the VMware Marketplace, Cloud providers can confidently offer their tenants a range of VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension-certified storage options. Learn more -> https://bit.ly/osepartnerprogram
Upgrade
You can upgrade directly to VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension 3.0 from versions 2.X. See Upgrading VMware Cloud Director Object Storage Extension.