SwiftStack and HGST Launching Public Test Cluster for OpenStack Community

SwiftStack, Inc. and HGST, Inc. have joined forces to build a public test cluster based on Intel Corp.‘s technologies for the OpenStack Community to test and validate the OpenStack Object Storage project known as Swift.

At OpenStack Summit, it was the first public, fully accessible and automated testing ground for Swift deployments, made newly available for the OpenStack community.

The cluster will be built, managed and hosted by SwiftStack, in object-based private cloud storage, and tested on hardware provided by Intel and HGST. By testing on real machines and hardware readily available to the public instead of virtualized clusters, this cluster will provide the OpenStack community with a real-world platform, enabling better QA, reliability and quality control over code and releases in building storage systems for users.

“This is the first time the OpenStack community will have a real-world public testing ground for development and innovation,” said John Dickinson, director of technology, SwiftStack, and OpenStack Swift project technical lead. “The purpose of the OpenStack Object Storage test cluster is to provide the community with improved test coverage against a physical cluster and to demonstrate Swift’s capabilities on modern storage hardware. Thanks to the strong collaboration with Intel and HGST, we’re able to make this a reality.”

Components of the cluster include:

• Atom Processor C2750 (4M Cache, 2.40 GHz)
• HGST’s 6TB Ultrastar He6 helium-filled HDDs
• Running Ubuntu and Red Hat OSs

“By working with SwiftStack and HGST to provide this new capability to the OpenStack Swift community, developers will be able to test on standard, broadly available Intel-based storage servers,” said Bev Crair, GM, Intel’s storage division. “The continuous integration testing of Swift on real hardware will help accelerate the time-to-market of new features and capabilities that will enable the community to innovate faster.”

“We’re excited to be working with the OpenStack community to create a distributed Swift cluster on which developers can run real tests,” said Brendan Collins, VP of product marketing, HGST. “OpenStack Object Storage is the engine that runs some of the world’s largest storage clouds, and the 6TB HGST Ultrastar He6 Helium-filled drives enable the highest density and most efficient storage nodes possible, so it is a natural fit for an OpenStack Swift cluster.”