Spectra Logic Has Added Ceph Integration to BlackPearl Deep Storage Gateway

Spectra Logic Corporation announced that the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) has developed an integration between its Ceph clustered file system storage environment and the BlackPearl Deep Storage Gateway.

This integration is designed for both backup and archive, reducing backup windows and allowing users to affordably store data for a seemingly indefinite period of time. LIBR will be offering the code to any BlackPearl user by the end of December 2016, free of charge, through GitHub.

LIBR began using company’s deep storage products two years ago when they selected a firm’s T950 tape library with a BlackPearl Deep Storage Gateway to cost-effectively manage data growth.

LIBR is the first company’s customer to create its own open source BlackPearl code to share with the developer community. The organization needed a way to backup data that was compatible with its pre-existing Ceph environment. This inspired LIBR’s IT department to create the Ceph client which allows LIBR to write all of the organization’s data to BlackPearl and LTO tape.

“Spectra’s BlackPearl provides a highly scalable, user friendly, and cost effective interface with our LTO tape environment,” said Brady Deetz, manager, IT, LIBR. “Spectra’s SDKs made it easy for us to develop a Ceph integration, which has allowed us to reduce our backup windows and affordably archive and backup our data through a single interface. The application code will be available through GitHub, for use and modification by any BlackPearl user here.”

Spectra Logic’s developer program enables users to create Spectra S3 applications to move data to tape and disk archive, using the BlackPearl Deep Storage Gateway. The BlackPearl hardware sits in front of firm’s tape libraries and disk archive systems, and allows users to move data using simple HTTP commands. The HTTP command set is called Spectra S3 and is an extension of the S3 storage interface from Amazon. The easiest way to build a Spectra S3 application is to use the available SDKs which are all available for download here.

“Spectra Logic’s Developer Program makes it easy for customers and partners to build their own applications and clients to move data to Spectra’s deep storage appliances, greatly reducing the cost and complexity of storing data in long-term archives,” said Brian Grainger, CSO, Spectra Logic. “By creating a Ceph integration for BlackPearl, LIBR freed up significant time and resources, which could be focused instead on research efforts.“

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