diff --git a/docs/architecture/concepts/disaggregated.md b/docs/architecture/concepts/disaggregated.md index aca47eca..7ea04316 100644 --- a/docs/architecture/concepts/disaggregated.md +++ b/docs/architecture/concepts/disaggregated.md @@ -4,23 +4,27 @@ description: "Disaggregated storage represents a modern approach to distributed weight: 30400 --- -Disaggregated storage represents a modern approach to distributed storage architectures, where compute and storage -resources are decoupled. This separation allows for greater flexibility, scalability, and efficiency in managing data -across large-scale distributed environments. +Simplyblock supports disaggregated storage deployments, in which dedicated storage nodes operate separately from compute, in addition to +hyper-converged and hybrid deployment topologies. -Traditional storage architectures typically integrate compute and storage within the same nodes, leading to resource -contention and inefficiencies. Disaggregated storage solutions address these limitations by separating storage resources -from compute resources, enabling independent scaling of each component based on workload demands. +It is important to note that, while we support plain Linux (Docker-based) disaggregated deployments, they can also run fully in the +Kubernetes-native operations model, either within the same cluster as the compute workloads or in separate clusters. -Key characteristics of disaggregated storage solutions include: +The main difference from the hyper-converged model is the separation of storage and compute resources. + +The biggest benefit of the disaggregated model is the decoupling the lifecycle of storage operations from +compute lifecycle management (worker node upgrades, node maintenance, and node reboots), as well as independent scaling. +For example, a small compute cluster with I/O-intensive workloads may still require a lot of storage capacity and IOPS. + +The biggest disadvantages are the loss of data locality and possible misalignments in scaling (required minimum scale of the +storage cluster and scaling of the storage cluster with compute). + +Key characteristics of our disaggregated storage solutions include: - **Independent Scalability:** Compute and storage can be scaled separately, optimizing resource utilization and - reducing unnecessary hardware expansion. -- **Resource Efficiency:** Storage is pooled and accessible across multiple compute nodes, reducing data duplication and - improving overall efficiency. -- **Improved Performance:** By reducing bottlenecks associated with tightly coupled storage, applications can achieve - better latency and throughput. -- **Flexibility and Adaptability:** Different storage technologies (e.g., NVMe-over-Fabrics, object storage) can be - integrated seamlessly, allowing organizations to adopt the best-fit storage solutions for specific workloads. -- **Simplified Management:** Centralized storage management reduces complexity, enabling easier provisioning, - monitoring, and maintenance of storage resources. + reducing unnecessary hardware expansion. IO demand and compute sizing are treated independently. +- **Independent Cluster Lifecycle:** Storage and compute can be maintained, upgraded, and replaced independently of each other. +- **Controlled Storage Performance:** It is easier to control latency, throughput, and IOPS output in a disaggregated model. +- **Hardware Independence:** This feature is shared with hyper-converged storage. Hardware component and node replacements + can be performed entirely independently of the software, choosing different vendors in accordance with procurement strategies, + and supporting gradual and rolling replacements.