The CNCF Storage Special Interest Group (SIG) has just announced an updated CNCF Storage Landscape Whitepaper. The updated whitepaper and landscape build on the first version, which was originally released during Kubecon Seattle by the Storage Working Group – the precursor of the Storage SIG, which was approved by the TOC in May 2019. The SIG has added a new database section and updates to the orchestration and management sections.
The whitepaper’s goal is to help end users better understand cloud native storage terminology, options, attributes, and architectures. Deploying stateful applications in Kubernetes can be a daunting task for those new to the storage landscape. It can leave a long list of questions: What type of storage should is best: block, file, object, or a database? What is volume? Can a storage system be used by multiple applications simultaneously?
With the whitepaper, the SIG hopes to help explain the storage options available, the storage attributes to be aware of, and why these are important for different use cases. This information will help application developers choose the right storage solutions for persistence in their application.
Some highlights of the whitepaper include:
- Attributes to consider when choosing an overall storage solution, including availability, scalability, performance, consistency, durability, instantiation, and deployment.
- The difference between block stores, object stores, key-value stores, file systems, and related caching mechanisms.
- A comparison of database types, and the pros and cons of each for different use cases.
- Ways container orchestration systems, such as Kubernetes, can support multiple interfaces to interact with a storage system.
The Storage SIG aims to enable widespread and successful storage of persistent state in cloud native environments. If you are interested in participating in the Storage SIG, check out the Charter for more information about ways to get involved.
To learn more about the whitepaper, and cloud native storage in general, watch a recent CNCF webinar with Alex Chircop of the Storage SIG.