The launch of the Maginatics Cloud Storage Platform (MCSP) version 3.0 brings an exciting range of new functionality and features to
further enhance the capabilities and performance offered to enterprise customers. MCSP 3.0 includes enhancements to the Maginatics Virtual Filer or MVF (formerly known as Maginatics File System or MagFS) and the introduction of two new performance features—Maginatics Content Delivery Cache and Maginatics Site Cache.
Key features of this release include:
1. Maginatics Site Cache
2. Maginatics Cloud Delivery Cache 3. Management and orchestration APIs 4. Partner ecosystem expansions 5. Component-level licenses
6. Dedicated only mode for applications demanding POSIX-compliant behavior
Maginatics Cloud Storage Platform Version 3.0
Performance in MCSP 3.0
Delivering high, sustainable throughput for all endpoint devices within an MCSP deployment is one of the basic tenets underpinning the engineering philosophy at Maginatics. MCSP pushes intelligence to the edge, enabling customers to benefit greatly in terms of cost and performance, while delivering ubiquitous yet controlled access to centrally-managed data.
MCSP also maintains the scalability of a globally distributed namespace by employing a multi-layer adaptive cache architecture with complete separation between data and metadata. In v3.0, Maginatics has extended the range of MCSP and introduced two major new features.
The first, Site Cache, is a data cache that extends the benefits of existing MagFS Agent level caches. Site Caches bring numerous advantages across a number of use cases by enabling one endpoint’s data access to benefit all other endpoints (and users) within the same office. Site Caches bring true locality of the most frequently accessed data within a LAN-connected user group.
Maginatics Site Cache
With MCSP 3.0, Maginatics is introducing a Site Read Cache. Site Caches are data caches that can be deployed as a VM within remote offices. Because of MCSP’s split data / metadata plane architecture, data caches may be deployed throughout your network without any impact on file system consistency, since the metadata path remains real-time for all users.
Deploying a Site Cache simply requires the availability of a VM at your chosen location (site) that is reachable from the Maginatics Virtual Filer (MVF). Site Cache VMs operate on VMware vSphere version 4.x or newer with a minimum of 8 GB of reserved RAM and 8 reserved vCPUs.
Site Caches are very low maintenance components. Furthermore, each Read Cache deployed within your network can be STOPPED or DELETED at any time. Stopping a cache will stop the read caching service; agents will no longer be able to read from the cache and will bypass it for future reads. A cache in a stopped state can be started again at any time. Deleting a cache will halt the caching service and return the VM to the VM pool for redeployment in another role. Since these are read caches,
For users, Site Caches are entirely transparent. Each MagFS Agent is intelligent about the network environment in which it operates and will automatically route requests via a cache if it is present to enhance performance. Users need not adjust any settings in order to benefit from the best performance path possible.
When a user is within range of a Site Cache and executes a read on the namespace, the data will not only be read; it will also be cached. By populating the Site Cache, one endpoint’s read benefits subsequent requests for the same data by other endpoints on the LAN. Among other things, read caching thus reduces overall WAN traffic at the branch.
Maginatics Cloud Delivery Cache
At its heart, the Maginatics Cloud Delivery Cache allows MCSP
Understanding the MCSP model helps to explain how MCSP 3.0 can enhance read access to these objects, and the files they ultimately represent, using a content delivery network (CDN). When users are far removed from the underlying object store (perhaps continents away), the use of a CDN allows for read caching over a vast geographic area. One such CDN is Amazon CloudFront, offered by Amazon Web Services.
CloudFront operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, as described at http://
aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/pricing/. In order to use CloudFront as your
CDN with MCSP v3.0, the backing object store must be AWS S3. With a simple mouse click, an admin can enable an MVF to use AWS CloudFront.
Management and Orchestration APIs
Named Admin Accounts
Increased scale entails increased responsibility. MCSP 3.0 introduces multi-user named admin accounts to ensure that all actions performed on an MVF are attributed to the user who performed them.
Other enhancements available in MCSP 3.0:
• Lower TCO
Some MCSP components may be licensed individually, enabling customers to pay for them only if they are used.
• Dedicated POSIX mode
Support for applications and workflows with POSIX-only interface requirements. Deploying a MagFS share in POSIX-only mode ensures that POSIX file handling is applied. (POSIX-only mode also prevents Windows clients from connecting to the share.)
• Increased Web Client scalability
A Web Client requires the availability of at least one VM. Since MCSP 3.0 permits customers to add additional VMs to any platform component, Web Client scalability can be increased simply by adding more VMs to the Web Client VM pool
• Expanded partner ecosystem
