Overview of Multi-Protocol Storage Access

As a VAST Universal Storage system, VAST Cluster stores data neither in a traditional file system nor in an object store, but using an abstraction called the Element Store. The Element Store presents data to traditional file storage protocols, such as NFS or SMB, and also presents data, which can be the same data, to the S3 object storage protocol. In addition, the Element Store can store tabular data (databases) accessible by third-party query engines.

The Element Store is the cluster's namespace for data. It is shared by both file and object storage protocols. The Element Store can simultaneously present data as objects in a flat hierarchy and as files in a hierarchy of directories.

The Element Store can contain a hierarchy of directories, any of which can be exposed to NFS clients as mountable exports, to SMB clients as shares that can be mapped as drives, and to S3 users as buckets for storing objects.

When you create a tenant, an Element Store path is created for that tenant. Since tenants' data paths are isolated from each other, directories, files, buckets and objects may have the same path on different tenants. Similarly, NFS aliases and S3 bucket names must be unique per tenant but need not be unique per cluster. An exception is SMB share names, which must be unique per cluster.

Configuration of NFS exports, SMB shares, S3 buckets and databases is done through the configuration of views. A view creates an Element Store path and exposes it to one or more client protocols.

Permission checking on VAST Cluster is consistent in giving permissions to users with multiple sets of user attributes used by different client protocols. Multiple providers are supported for user authorization.

You can find further information at the following links: