Storage options
As you plan your installation, be mindful that not all services support all types of storage. If the services that you want to install do not support the same type of storage, you can have a mixture of different storage providers. However, it is recommended to use one storage provider, if possible, for all your storage requirements.
For CP4BA production deployments that need high performance, use Container Storage Interface (CSI) drivers from platform-providers like IBM® Storage Fusion, AWS EFS, Azure Files, and so on. Do not use open source storage providers that might have limitations when you have too many connections like, for example, the Kubernetes NFS-Client Provisioner.
You can choose from different types of storage provider or use the storage validation tool to verify your storage setup:
- Platform-provided storage
-
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS), Amazon Elastic File System (EFS), Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP
- Microsoft Azure Disk and Files
- IBM Cloud® File and Block
The cloud providers offer a range of their own built-in storage providers, which are readily accessible through IaaS or hosted OpenShift services. Usually those Block and File providers can be used flexibly to provide persistent storage for the various Cloud Pak for Business Automation components. However, some particular providers are not recommended for use with particular components.
- Bring-your-own Software Defined Storage (SDS)
-
- OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF, formerly OpenShift Container Storage or OCS)
- IBM Storage Fusion
- Portworx
The supported storage providers for a production deployment of Cloud Pak for Business Automation include the IBM Storage Suite for IBM Cloud Paks. For more information, see Why IBM Storage Suite for IBM Cloud Paks
. - Storage validation tool
-
Run the storage validation tool on your Red Hat OpenShift cluster to verify your storage setup for use with Cloud Pak for Business Automation. Set up your environment, and then run the validation tool before you install your CP4BA deployments. For more information about the tool, see storage validation tool
.
In an on-premises data center deployment, you might consider a storage provider to be "platform-provided" if the team that manages Cloud Pak for Business Automation does not manage the storage provider.
| Storage option | Version | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShift Data Foundation |
|
Available in Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus. Ensure that you install a version of OpenShift Data Foundation that is compatible with the version of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform that you are running. For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/articles/4731161
. |
| IBM® Storage Fusion Data Foundation |
|
Available in IBM Storage Fusion. Ensure that you install a version of IBM Storage Fusion Data Foundation that is compatible with the version of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform that you are running. |
| IBM Storage Fusion Global Data Platform |
|
Available in IBM Storage Fusion. |
| IBM Storage Scale Container Native (with IBM Storage Scale Container Storage Interface) | Version 5.1.5 or later fixesCSI Version 2.6.x or later fixes | Available in either:
|
| Portworx |
|
If you are running Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Version 4.15, upgrade to Portworx Version 2.12.2 or later. |
| Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) | Not applicable | In addition to EBS storage, your environment must also include EFS storage. |
| Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) | Not applicable | It is recommended that you use both EBS and EFS storage. |
| IBM Cloud Block Storage | Not applicable | In addition to IBM Cloud Block Storage, your environment must also include IBM Cloud File Storage. |
| IBM Cloud File Storage | Not applicable | It is recommended that you use both IBM Cloud Block Storage and IBM Cloud File Storage storage. |
| NetApp Trident | Version 22.4.0 or later fixes | Includes both block and file storage. |
Ensure that you select a storage option that best addresses the following requirements:
- Works on your chosen deployment environment
- Some storage options are supported only on a specific deployment environment.
- For clusters hosted on third-party infrastructure, such as IBM Cloud or Amazon Web Services, it is recommended that you use storage that is native to the infrastructure, if possible.
- Supports the services that you plan to install
- Some services support a subset of the storage options that are available by the platform.
- Has sufficient I/O performance.
- Provides the right level of backup and restore
Storage providers offer a range of disaster recovery support. Find a provider that meets your service level agreement (SLA) on your Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO).
The following table shows the storage options by deployment environment.
| Deployment environment | Managed OpenShift | Self-managed OpenShift |
|---|---|---|
| On-premises | IBM Cloud Satellite® supports the following storage options:
|
The following storage options are supported on bare metal and VMware infrastructure:
|
| IBM Cloud | Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud supports the following storage options:
For up-to-date information about the storage supported on this environment, review
Storing data on persistent storage in the Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud documentation
|
The following storage options are supported on VPC IBM Cloud infrastructure:
|
| Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA) supports the following storage options:
|
The following storage options are supported on AWS infrastructure:
|
| Microsoft Azure | Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO) supports the following storage options:
|
The following storage options are supported on Microsoft Azure infrastructure:
|
| Google Cloud | Managed OpenShift on Google Cloud is not supported. | The following storage options are supported on Google Cloud infrastructure:
|
The following table provides details on storage-level backup and restore.
| Storage option | Details |
|---|---|
| OpenShift Data Foundation | Container Storage Interface support for snapshots
and clones
. Tight integration with Velero CSI plug-in for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform backup and recovery. |
| IBM Storage Fusion Data Foundation | Container Storage Interface support for snapshots
and clones
. Tight integration with Velero CSI plug-in for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform backup and recovery. |
| IBM Storage Fusion Global Data Platform | For storage level backup, see Backing up and restoring your data in the IBM Storage Fusion documentation: |
| IBM Storage Scale Container Native (with IBM Storage Scale Container Storage Interface) | For more information, see Data protection and disaster recovery
in the IBM Storage Scale documentation. |
| Portworx |
|
| Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) | All new Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) file systems created using the Amazon EFS
console are automatically backed with AWS Backup. For more information, see Amazon EFS Backup and Restore using AWS Backup
. |
| Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) | For more information, see Amazon EFS Backup and Restore using AWS Backup
. |
| IBM Cloud File Storage | Supported, but not enabled by default. For more information, see Backing up and restoring data
. |
| IBM Cloud Block Storage | Supported, but not enabled by default. For more information, see Backing up and restoring data
. |
| NetApp Trident | For more information, see Backup and Disaster Recovery
. |