Scalable File Service (SFS)

When working on projects, you may face the situation that you need access to a central data source from multiple servers or services. Especially when using a container engine like the Open Telekom Cloud Cloud Container Engine (CCE), a persistent storage service or data storage for multiple containers to exchange and share files may be needed.

The Scalable File Service (SFS) is the solution for these requirements. The SFS combines the scalability of the Object Storage Service (OBS) with the performance of Elastic Volume Storage (EVS) and at the same time offers the convenience of data availability for all network participants via the NFSv3 protocol. The SFS file storage is available in different performance types. The more powerful SFS Turbo HPC types are suitable for requirements with high input/output operations. This includes the handling of large file volumes with a rather small average file size. The cost-efficient General Purpose File System (GP FS) is suitable for requirements where large file sizes are processed with a rather small number of files. The performance-oriented SFS types are provided as part of a high-availability cluster within an availability zone (AZ). We recommend additionally backing up the data via the Cloud Backup & Recovery (CBR) service. This service stores your backup data on the Object Storage Service, i.e. it is automatically replicated in several Open Telekom Cloud availability zones (AZs) and is thus protected against AZ failures. The cost-efficient General Purpose File System stores the data AZ-redundantly in 3 availability zones of the Open Telekom Cloud to provide you with greater resilience.

Scalable File Service in the Open Telekom Cloud

Reasons for SFS in the Open Telekom Cloud

Compliant

SFS data is stored in the Deutsche Telekom's data centers. These run in Europe and comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. This ensures that any service built on top of the Open Telekom Cloud also easily and heedlessly complies to the GDPR.

Protective shield with checkmark and map in the background

Reliable & durable

The SFS service runs in redundant high-availability clusters. Performance-oriented file service types include redundancy within one availability zone (AZ), while the cost-efficient variant ensures redundancy across three availability zones (AZ). This offers you an availability of up to 99.95% and a durability of up to 99.9999999999% (12 nines). Additional security is provided by the backup functionality of the Cloud Backup and Recovery Service. This allows you to create backups of your performance-oriented SFS types and store them redundantly across 3 availability zones in the Object Storage Service of your Open Telekom Cloud region.

Speedometer and diagram in the background

Fast & secure

SFS is a high-performance storage system with high IOPS, low latency, and high bandwidth suitable for High Performance Computing. It supports up to 1,000,000 IOPS, provides a latency within 1-3ms and provides a max bandwidth of up to 20 GB/s. In addition, data stored on SFS can conveniently be encrypted via the Key Management Service (KMS) of the Open Telekom Cloud.

SFS File System Types

SFS Turbo HPC

	SFS Turbo HPC 20	SFS Turbo HPC 40	SFS Turbo HPC 125	SFS Turbo HPC 250
Capacity	3.6 TB - 1 PB	1.2 TB - 1 PB	1.2 TB - 1 PB	1.2 TB - 1 PB
Bandwidth per TB	Up to 20 MBs/TB	Up to 40 MBs/TB	Up to 125 MBs/TB	Up to 250 MBs/TB
Max. bandwidth	8 GB/s	8 GB/s	20 GB/s	20 GB/s
Max. IOPS	250.000	250.000	1.000.000	1.000.000
Latency	2-5 ms	2-5 ms	1-3 ms	1-3 ms
Redundancy	1 AZ	1 AZ	1 AZ	1 AZ
Durability	Up to 99.9999999% (9x9)	Up to 99.9999999% (9x9)	Up to 99.9999999% (9x9)	Up to 99.9999999% (9x9)
Availability	Up to 99.95%	Up to 99.95%	Up to 99.95%	Up to 99.95%

SFS Turbo

	SFS Turbo Standard	SFS Turbo Standard Enhanced	SFS Turbo Performance	SFS Turbo Performance Enhanced
Capacity	500 GB - 32 TB	10 TB - 320 TB	500 GB - 32 TB	10 TB - 320 TB
Max. bandwidth	120 MB/s	1 GB/s	320 MB/s	2 GB/s
Max. IOPS	3,000	15,000	20,000	100,000
Latency	10-20 ms	10-20 ms	6-10 ms	6-10 ms
Redundancy	1 AZ	1 AZ	1 AZ	1 AZ
Durability	Up to 99.9999999% (9x9)	Up to 99.9999999% (9x9)	Up to 99.9999999% (9x9)	Up to 99.9999999% (9x9)
Availability	Up to 99.95%	Up to 99.95%	Up to 99.95%	Up to 99.95%

SFS General Purpose

	GP FS (Beta)
Capacity	Up to 4 PB
Max. Bandwidth	1.25 GB/s
Max. IOPS	1,000,000
Latency	10 ms
Redundancy	3 AZ
Durability	Up to 99.9999999999% (12x9)
Availability	Up to 99.95 %

Comparison

	SFS General Purpose (Beta)	SFS Turbo / SFS Turbo HPC
Typical use-case	Cost efficient file service for larger file sizes and irregular access	High performance file service for small file sizes and regular access
Redundancy	3 AZ – High availability	1 AZ – Redundancy within AZ
Min. size	No minimal size of file-service	500 GB / 1.2 TB / 3.6 TB (depending on selected type)
Pricing model	Pay-per-use – actually stored data is charged	Pay-per-allocation – allocated size of the fileshare is charged

Key Features of SFS

Managed file service supporting NFSv3

The SFS file services can be addressed via NFSv3. This makes it possible to access the file services via compute and container services such as Elastic Cloud Servers (ECS), Bare Metal Servers (BMS) or the Cloud Container Engine (CCE). The file service can be conveniently controlled via the Open Telekom Cloud Console (user interface) or the API.

Backup

The file systems of the performance-oriented SFS types are operated in a high-availability cluster within your chosen AZ. You can also use the Cloud Backup and Recovery Service to additionally protect them. All backups are stored redundantly within 3 AZs and are therefore accessible even in the event of an AZ failure. Backup policies ensure that your backups are created reliably and that outdated backups are reliably removed from the system. This allows you to keep your costs under control at all times. In addition, you can quickly and easily create new file systems based on your backups.

Encryption

The Scalable File Service provides encryption functionality that automatically encrypts the data on the file systems you create. The encryption service is provided through the Key Management Service and uses the industry-standard XTS-AES-256 encryption algorithm.

Monitoring

Monitor the performance of your file systems using the Cloud Eye service. This allows you to monitor important performance indicators such as IOPS, bandwidth data or capacities. And with the associated alarm functionality, you can have individual notifications sent to you if the file system reaches its capacity or performance limits.

Logging

The Cloud Trace Service records operations that you execute in the Scalable File Service. For example, the creation and deletion of file systems is recorded. This enables you to meet compliance requirements. It is also possible to receive notifications when file systems are deleted or created. If you operate critical file systems in the Open Telekom Cloud, you can then take appropriate measures immediately.

Feature comparison

	SFS General Purpose (Beta)	SFS Turbo / SFS Turbo HPC
Access	NFS v3	NFS v3
Backup
Encryption
Monitoring
Logging

SFS General Purpose is currently in a beta phase. The range of functions will be continuously expanded.

Structure and Function

Use Cases

File Sharing

Thanks to a high IOPS, high bandwidth and low latency, the SFS service can be used for any kind of file sharing demands. Companies with a larger number of departments and employees can simply use the SFS company-wide for data & document creation, editing & sharing.

High Performance Computing

High performance computing executes computationally intensive operations on multiple resources. For an efficient execution, the data storage solution needs to ensure that the desired performance does not become the bottleneck. Thanks to the high IOPS, low latency, and high bandwidth, SFS is the ideal solution for high performance computing demands.

Data sharing for distributed applications

More and more development teams are creating applications using modern container technologies. SFS can be the persistent storage for your cloud container or data share across multiple containers, enabling you to create distributed applications. The Scalable File Service is therefore a good solution to provide a common storage system for your development teams.

Content management and web services

The Scalable File Service can be the data source for your scaling content management services as well as web services. It allows you to quickly publish content like documents, videos or other files through your services by utilizing the SFS share as a backend storage solution.

New Features

10/19/2023Migration of Backups for ServerView Details

03/05/2024Backup of SFS Turbo available in EU-NLView Details

09/03/2024SFS Turbo HPC type availabe in EU-DEView Details

11/14/2024SFS type “General Purpose File System” available in betaView Details

view all release notes

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