Enterprise Linux vendor SUSE LLC has burst onto the software-defined storage scene with a major new release at this year’s SuseCon conference in Orlando, Florida.

SUSE introduced a new solution called SUSE Storage. Currently in beta, it’s described as a self-healing, self-managing, distributed solution for enterprise customers, and is based on the Ceph open-source Firefly release. Using SUSE Storage, enterprises can combine commodity disk arrays to storage large data sets like archives and system images, with features including copy-on-write cloning, cache tiering and remote replication. This means enterprises can do away with costly equipment from vendors like EMC Corp, Hitachi Data Systems, Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp to better manage cost demands for their object, archival and bulk storage.

“The storage market today is poised for disruptive change, just like the server market was 15 years ago,” said Larry Morris, SUSE Storage product manager, in a statement. “SUSE Storage is an ideal solution for those enterprises struggling to manage their explosive data growth, meeting their needs reliably, securely and cost effectively.”

That statement is backed up by recent research from Gartner Inc., which says rising demand for cheap and reliable storage solutions will lead to open-source solutions like Ceph attaining a 20 percent share of the market by 2018.

SUSE says the full version of SUSE Storage is earmarked for an early 2015 release, although it’s yet to release a concrete date. Given its open-source nature, it’s likely the beta testers will have a big impact on the continued development of SUSE Storage before the final release lands on the table.

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