Key enhancements¶
The following section will breakdown the main additions delivered in zStorage 23.09 and its service pack releases (23.09-SP1, 23.09-SP2 and 23.09-SP3) to the Zadara Storage Cloud platform.
Object Storage¶
UI Console search and direct uploads and downloads¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
The Object Storage UI has enhanced usability with a search and sort feature for containers, folders and files, and direct uploads and downloads of folders and objects. This includes the option to specify versions of versioned objects for download.
For more details, see:
Custom MTU¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
MTU size configuration has been extended in Object Storage, with the option to overwrite an MTU size selected from the UI dropdown.
Any custom MTU value in the range of 1420 - 9000 is supported.
Presigned URL for POST (Object Upload)¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
Using a presigned URL for POST (object upload) is now supported for Swift.
See the Presigned URL for POST example.
Support for S3 Transfer Manager multipart uploads and downloads¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
Object Storage now supports S3 Transfer Manager (HEAD and GET on multipart segments).
See the Multipart Object example example.
Object life-cycle policy¶
Version: 23.09-SP1
Managing digital assets efficiently is crucial for organizations. Zadara’s Object Storage platforms offer scalable and durable solutions for vast amounts of unstructured data. Managing this data effectively requires a strategic approach. An Object Life Cycle Policy automates the management of objects from creation to deletion, balancing cost and compliance.
(ZSTRG-23790)
CORS S3 Compatible API support¶
Version: 23.09-SP1
CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) is a security feature that permits Object Storage containers to accept requests from different origins by specifying permissible origins, methods, and headers. It is important as it enables web applications to securely interact with the Object Storage resources across various domains, ensuring proper data access while maintaining stringent security protocols.
(ZSTRG-26582)
Accounts and Containers(buckets) quotas¶
Accounts and container-level quotas empower the Object Storage administrator to specify and manage data usage within the Object Storage platform. The platform includes an integrated notification mechanism and customizable threshold, enhancing the administrator’s ability to effectively oversee and regulate storage resources.
(ZSTRG-23709)
Container Logging¶
The Container Logging feature offers logging functionalities for objects stored in the object storage system. This feature is intended to offer insights into activities at the object level, facilitating audit trails. It aids in comprehending access patterns, usage statistics, and identifying security incidents.
(ZSTRG-24592)
Strong Consistency¶
Zadara’s NextGen Object Storage was built with strong consistency in mind, ensuring read operations will always return the most recent data. With zStorage 23.09, Zadara’s Object Storage is strong consistent for all object operations.
(ZSTRG-23073)
VPSA Storage Array & All Flash Array¶
Custom MTU¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
MTU size configuration has been extended, with the option to overwrite an MTU size selected from the UI dropdown.
Any custom MTU value in the range of 1420 - 9000 is supported.
Periodic media scan on all user RAID groups¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
A media scan is a proactive maintenance process that scans the underlying drives of a RAID group, identifies potential issues, and automatically tries to correct media errors when detected.
The VPSA performs periodic regular media scans on the drives in each RAID group, with default scheduling configured to minimize performance impact.
For more details, see RAID Group Media Scan.
File System Trim (FSTRIM) and Defragmentation custom schedule support¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
On HDD media, the defragmentation process reorganizes files that are fragmented into non-contiguous blocks, by rearranging them into contiguous blocks. This reduces seek time and improves file access speed.
On SSD media, the File System Trim (FSTRIM) operation improves performance and extends the lifespan of the drive with effective erasure and reuse of deleted blocks.
Customizing File System Trim (FSTRIM) and Defragmentation schedules is now supported in VPSA Storage Array and Flash Array.
For more details, see:
Enhanced NAS volume unmount error handling¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
Deletion of snapshots might affect snapshot policy routines, such as creating new snapshots or deleting expired ones.
If a folder from the SMB File History Snapshot remains open on a client, the snapshot deletion might fail.
In such cases, the VPSA now sends a “Failed to unmount busy file history snapshot” notification to the VPSA owner, and opens a support ticket.
In these situations, it is recommended to Restart File Services.
Enhanced Virtual Controller (VC) Failover¶
Version: 23.09-SP2
VPSA version 23.03-SP2 introduces significant improvements in the VC (Virtual Controller) failover time, further improving the efficiency and transparency of VPSA Engine upgrade, software upgrade and scheduled failover for VPSA server clients. This enhancement will be visible to server clients after the VPSA has been fully upgraded to 23.09-SP2.
(ZSTRG-28238)
VMware’s Extended-XCOPY API¶
Version: 23.09-SP1
VMware Extended XCOPY (E-XCOPY) is a feature introduced in vSphere 8.0 U1 that optimizes data copies between VMFS datastores hosted on different storage arrays. E-XCOPY allows you to offload, migrate, and clone workloads between VMFS datastores that reside in separate storage arrays. It significantly improves the performance of tasks like Storage vMotion and cloning by leveraging array-based data movement instead of relying solely on host-assisted data copying within vSphere. By using E-XCOPY, you can reduce the impact on vSphere resources during large-scale data transfers.
Users who wishes to leverage this capability please contact support@zadara.com
(ZSTRG-27217)
Self-managed VPSA software updates¶
zStorage 23.09 allows VPSA owners to manage the software life-cycle of their VPSAs. Upon releasing a new software version the platform will notify the VPSA owner and will allow self-managed upgrade directly from Zadara’s Provisioning Portal. VPSA Administrators can start their software upgrade immediately or schedule it for a later time per their convenience.
(ZSTRG-19954)
Command Center¶
Custom MTU¶
Version: 23.09-SP3
MTU size configuration has been extended, with the option to overwrite an MTU size selected from the UI dropdown.
Any custom MTU value in the range of 1420 - 9000 is supported.
The Changelog section of this guide provides details on additional enhancements, changes and fixes introduced in this version.