OpenStack provides redundant, scalable object storage using clusters of standardized servers capable of storing petabytes of data Object Storage is not a traditional file system, but rather a distributed storage system for static data such as virtual machine images, photo storage, email storage, backups and archives. Having no central "brain" or master point of control provides greater scalability, redundancy and durability. Objects and files are written to multiple disk drives spread throughout servers in the data center, with the OpenStack software responsible for ensuring data replication and integrity across the cluster. Storage clusters scale horizontally simply by adding new servers. Should a server or hard drive fail, OpenStack replicates its content from other active nodes to new locations in the cluster. Because OpenStack uses software logic to ensure data replication and distribution across different devices, inexpensive commodity hard drives and servers can be used in lieu of more expensive equipment. Swift Characteristics The key characteristics of Swift include: All objects stored in Swift have a URL All objects stored are replicated 3x in as-unique-as-possible zones, which can be defined as a group of drives, a node, a rack etc. All objects have their own metadata Developers interact with the object storage system through a RESTful HTTP API Object data can be located anywhere in the cluster The cluster scales by adding additional nodes -- without sacrificing performance, which allows a more cost-effective linear storage expansion vs. fork-lift upgrades Data doesn’t have to be migrated to an entirely new storage system New nodes can be added to the cluster without downtime Failed nodes and disks can be swapped out with no downtime Runs on industry-standard hardware, such as Dell, HP, Supermicro etc.

Developers can either write directly to the Swift API or use one of the many client libraries that exist for all popular programming languages, such as Java, Python, Ruby and C#. Amazon S3 and RackSpace Cloud Files users should feel very familiar with Swift. For users who have not used an object storage system before, it will require a different approach and mindset than using a traditional filesystem.