SSD-based storage systems maker SolidFire has added integration with the OpenStack cloud OS, and its block storage now works with the Nova service included in the latest Essex version of the platform.  It’s an early release though, as stated clearly by the company, which probably means there’s more than enough room for improvement and further optimization.

“The past six months have been an exciting time for SolidFire and OpenStack,” stated Wright. “Since the Essex Design Summit, we have been orienting ourselves with the community and its core projects. The ongoing OpenStack developments are an integral part of our success. Enabling SolidFire as a volume storage option within Essex is the first of many milestones, and we are looking forward to building on this integration in the Folsom release and beyond.”

This update is a key portion of SolidFire’s plans to get involved with the OpenStack community. In addition to announcing support, the company will also be attending an upcoming gathering dedicated to this topic – the OpenStack Conference & Design Summit, scheduled for April 16 to 20 in San Francisco.

The open-source solution is gaining traction in the cloud community. Its fifth release has been dubbed as the most stable to date, combined with powerful new functionality that’s made it more enterprise-ready than ever. But it’s only one trend within the broader picture that is the cloud.

Late last year the storage firm gave us a sneak peek into a new product that will hit the market sometime in the second half of 2012. The concept heavily relies on leveraging software to optimize hardware resources by compressing and filtering data.  And the more interesting specs will play a big part as well, including the 230,000 to 395,000 IOPS the system will deliver, according to the company.