OpenShift Data Foundation

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF) is Red Hat’s enterprise Kubernetes storage platform, built on Ceph orchestrated by Rook. Where Rook-Ceph is the open source upstream, ODF packages it with an operator, a validated configuration, enterprise support, and integration with the OpenShift console. It provides block (RBD), file (CephFS), and object (S3-compatible via Ceph RGW) storage as Kubernetes StorageClasses on the same hardware.

What it provides

Three storage modes from one cluster:

Mode	StorageClass	Use case
Block (RBD)	`ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rbd`	Databases, stateful apps needing a single-writer disk
File (CephFS)	`ocs-storagecluster-cephfs`	Shared filesystems, multiple pods reading/writing the same volume
Object	S3-compatible endpoint	Buckets via `ObjectBucketClaim`, backup targets, artifact storage

Installation

ODF installs via the ODF operator from OperatorHub. The operator creates a StorageCluster CR that drives the Ceph deployment:

apiVersion: ocs.openshift.io/v1
kind: StorageCluster
metadata:
 name: ocs-storagecluster
 namespace: openshift-storage
spec:
 storageDeviceSets:
 - name: ocs-deviceset
 count: 1
 replica: 3
 dataPVCTemplate:
 spec:
 storageClassName: local-storage
 volumeMode: Block
 resources:
 requests:
 storage: 1Ti

Requires at minimum three nodes with dedicated block devices. The operator handles Ceph cluster formation, monitors, MGRs, and OSDs.

vs Rook-Ceph

ODF IS Rook-Ceph under the hood. The difference is packaging and support: ODF is tested and supported on OpenShift, includes the NooBaa multi-cloud gateway for object storage federation, and integrates with the OpenShift UI. For self-managed Kubernetes outside OpenShift, raw Rook-Ceph is the equivalent path.

Odf on Backend Engineering Strategy Tools

OpenShift Data Foundation

What it provides

Installation

vs Rook-Ceph

Resources