Intel-backed Lightbits boosts performance of software-defined storage for edge

The new age of 5G, IoT, AI and ML and ever-increasing analytic data, calls for cloud-optimized block storage volumes that support higher IOPS, higher bandwidth and sub-millisecond, low-variance I/O latency. Like the Amazon EBS io2 Block Express volumes, which was recently announced at the AWS Re:Invent conference, Lightbits Labs’ LightOS provides high-performance, low-latency block storage volumes for on-prem cloud native application environments.

“Lightbits realized early on that disaggregated, high-performance software defined storage that utilized standard Ethernet networking is what would drive successful on-premises cloud deployments,” said Avigdor Willenz, co-founder and chairman of Lightbits Labs and previously co-founder of Annapurna Labs, acquired by Amazon in 2015. “The new Amazon EBS io2 Block Express volumes utilize scalable reliable datagrams that are implemented using custom-built, dedicated hardware. We specifically developed LightOS and NVMe/TCP to avoid the need for special network hardware yet provide a level of performance similar to local NVMe.”

As AWS extends its infrastructure offerings to hybrid cloud with its Outpost offerings, it’s clear that the future of scalable infrastructure is in native cloud practices regardless of where cloud is deployed. For private, hybrid and edge cloud deployments, Lightbits’ LightOS delivers the same or better performance than the latest Amazon EBS io2 Block Express volumes at lower cost. “This enables us to bring high-performance infrastructure for all data centers with our key Intel product portfolio,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, Vice President and Data Platforms Group Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer at Intel. “Given our recent partnership with Lightbits, we’ve had strong customer momentum in the space of disaggregated storage over TCP with customers deploying the solution in production on bare metal edge, enterprise private cloud (financial), and multi-tenancy Kubernetes-based environment for cloud service providers.”

LightOS scale out disaggregated storage solution is perfect for the largest, most performance-sensitive cloud native applications with improved price-performance, ease-of-implementation, availability and scalability. Further, as AWS is now announcing with EBS Gp3 volumes, LightOS has always decoupled IOPS from storage capacity and allowed for independent scaling of storage and compute. When combining this level of performance and flexibility along with other standard features such as thin provisioning, compression, snapshots and thin clones and the ability to utilize and extend the endurance of any flash, including QLC SSDs, it delivers EBS-like “Hyperscale Storage for All” for enterprise private clouds.

LightOS 2.1 is available immediately and offers better performance, scalability and latency than the most advanced cloud offerings for private clouds. With a fully programmatic API, and integration with Kubernetes and OpenStack, and the choice of software-only or a fully integrated and ready-to-run appliance, Lightbits Labs’ LightOS is ready to unleash the full power of private, hybrid and edge clouds for the next 10 years of cloud architecture.

Article Topics

edge storage  |  Lightbits  |  NVMe  |  software-defined storage  |  SSD