Tech We Like: Longhorn for Persistent Storage

One of the more common speed bumps for today’s applications is the need to read and write data.

No matter how nimble an application has been designed, the process of calling from—and pushing volumes to—storage can create bottlenecks in workflows.

Persistent storage solves this problem, and when it comes to managing persistent storage, one of the tools we like is Longhorn from SUSE.

There are a number of features in Longhorn’s favor, beginning with its tight integration with SUSE Rancher. Which makes sense, because Longhorn originated as a Rancher Laps project before being donated to the CNCF in 2017 as part of SUSE’s commitment to open-source solutions.

A laundry list of features

As part of its persistent storage capabilities, Longhorn includes a number of useful features. These features include, but are not limited to:

• Block storage partition capabilities, allow you to utilize Kubernetes volumes with a cloud provider
• Easy replication of block storage across nodes and datacenters
• Recurring snapshots of volumes that can be scheduled to NFS or SE-compatible secondary storage
• The ability to create cross-cluster disaster recovery volumes

Together, these features make for one of the more robust tools for persistent storage on the market.

More about that Rancher integration

At Redapt, we’ve been longtime fans of SUSE Rancher. In fact, we’ve developed an entire jumpstart program designed to take organizations from zero to production-ready with Kubernetes in the platform on an accelerated time frame.

Longhorn’s tight integration with Rancher means the same industry-leading support from Rancher Labs is available for users. In addition, the integration means:

• Easy 1-click deployment of Longhorn through the Rancher catalog
• A full GUI dashboard that is immediately authenticated when Longhorn is downloaded
• Simple security policies, as well as the ability to create backup volumes and clusters from a single source

Longhorn is also infrastructure agnostic, increasing the flexibility of where Kubernetes clusters can be hosted—from bare metal to the cloud.

Getting started with persistent storage with Longhorn

If your organization needs simple, all-encompassing, and persistent storage for your container workloads, we can’t recommend SUSE Longhorn enough.

The ability to greatly simplify your Kubernetes storage, along with the support and integration of Rancher, provides you with the ability to secure, provision, and back up your storage across all your clusters—all from a single, intuitive plane.

To learn more about SUSE Longhorn and Rancher, schedule some time with our experts today.