Versatile in object, file and block profile

As specialists in the field of scalable, highly available and software-defined storage solutions, the Ambedded developers dedicated themselves to the fast Ampere Altra Arm processors as well as the superior NVMe technology. They had this potent hardware combination orchestrated by the in-house Ceph Management Web GUI. The result was the brand new UniVirStor Flash Mars500 Ceph Storage Appliance.

Ambedded thus not only supplies the hardware, but also the complete software package from a single source: the UniVirStor software package includes a suitable Linux OS, a Ceph instance and a Ceph management GUI (UVS Manager). This will enable Ambedded users to automate the provisioning, management, operation and maintenance of Ceph clusters.

The technical specs also speak for themselves: The Mars500 Ceph appliance has a 32-core Ampere Altra Arm CPU, manages eight fast U.3 NVMe SSDs and has two 25 GbE ports installed – 100 GbE are also optionally available. The RAM size is 96 GB with an option for a total of 4 TB.

UVS 3.0 – Manage Ceph even without command lines

For the new product line, the developers have further developed the well-known UVS Manager to version 3. It now has many new features that make it easier for administrators to monitor and manage the Ceph cluster through a graphical user interface (and automated processes). These include: a redesigned dashboard, host management, CRUSH map, RBD snapshot schedules, mirroring and multi-site object storage. Command line fans, however, can still use direct management via an SSH client.

High-performance, scalable and sustainable Ceph cluster

Thanks to the economical Ampere Altra Arm technology, a server only needs around 200 watts of power even under heavy workloads. These first-generation multi-core processors based on 64-bit arms, was designed specifically for large public and private cloud environments. Compared to x86 platforms, Mars models thus save plenty of energy costs without the operator having to accept performance losses. In addition, the Ampere Altra CPUs offers extensive RAS (Row Address Strobe) functions.

Goodbye vendor lock-in – all-round solution for professionals

Starline itself – as well as partner Ambedded – provide the important consulting and technical support for the advanced Ceph appliances – professional service and necessary software updates included. By the way, the models from Ambedded’s Ceph appliance product line also work excellently hand in hand with each other: Mars400 and Mars500 can act as two standalone Ceph clusters or as a hybrid cluster. The Mars400’s hard disk pool then uses the Mars500’s NVMe SSD pool as a cache tier, for example.

Application areas

Many companies choose Enterprise Ceph solutions primarily because of the great price/performance ratio. Ambedded’s Ceph appliance also boasts high IOPS performance, scalability and reliability, and tremendous energy savings. Moreover, by adding more nodes to the cluster, the admin can increase capacity as well as performance as needed. As such, it is recommended for cloud providers, in data centers, finance, research, academia, e-commerce applications, and the media and entertainment industries.

Availability

Ambedded’s UniVirStor Flash Mars500 Ceph Storage Appliance is expected to be available from Starline in Q1 2023. You can request high-resolution images here.