Technology

Ceph

A distributed storage system providing object, block, and file storage in a unified platform. S3 compatibility via its RADOS Gateway (RGW).

9 connections 3 resources

Summary

What it is

A distributed storage system providing object, block, and file storage in a unified platform. S3 compatibility via its RADOS Gateway (RGW).

Where it fits

Ceph is the enterprise-grade, self-managed storage platform for organizations that need S3-compatible object storage alongside block and file access from a single infrastructure.

Misconceptions / Traps

Ceph is not just an object store — it is a unified storage platform. The S3 gateway is one component. Operational complexity is significantly higher than MinIO.
S3 API coverage in Ceph RGW is broad but not complete. Test specific API operations (multipart uploads, lifecycle policies) before production use.

Key Connections

implements S3 API — via RADOS Gateway
solves Vendor Lock-In — self-hosted deployment option
scoped_to S3, Object Storage — participates in the S3-compatible ecosystem

Definition

What it is

A distributed storage system providing object, block, and file storage in a single unified platform. Exposes S3 compatibility through its RADOS Gateway (RGW) component.

Why it exists

Infrastructure operators need a single storage platform that can serve multiple protocols. Ceph's S3 gateway allows existing S3 workloads to run against self-managed, software-defined storage.

Primary use cases

Unified on-premise storage, S3-compatible private cloud, research and academic data infrastructure.

Recent developments

Latest signals

Tentacle (v20) ships a major feature surface; latest point release 20.2.2 (2026-06-16). The v20 line went GA as 20.2.0 on 2025-11-18, with 20.2.1 (2026-04-06) and 20.2.2 (2026-06-16) following. It is actively maintained alongside Squid (v19). Per Ceph Tentacle release notes.
FastEC — erasure-coding gets partial reads/writes. Tentacle introduces long-anticipated performance and space-amplification optimizations for erasure-coded pools, including partial reads and partial writes, with a new ISA-L plugin now the default for new EC profiles. This materially changes EC economics vs. 3x replication. Per Ceph Tentacle release notes.
Integrated SMB and NVMe/TCP gateway. A new SMB Manager module deploys Samba-backed file shares over CephFS (domain and standalone auth); the NVMe/TCP gateway adds gateway groups, multiple namespaces, DHCHAP keys, and namespace encryption. Crimson/SeaStore is now deployable as a tech preview toward replacing the classical OSD. Per Ceph Tentacle release notes.
Dashboard modernization + management gateway. Tentacle ships a redesigned dashboard with OAuth 2.0 integration and multi-cluster management, plus a new cephadm nginx-based management gateway providing TLS-terminated, HA access to management endpoints with optional OAuth2 single sign-on. RBD live migration can now instantly import images from other clusters via NBD streams. Per Ceph Tentacle release notes.
Community substrate rebuilt around regional Ceph Days. The Foundation shifted from one global mega-event toward regional Ceph Days — India drew 192 attendees, Raleigh 78 — and restarted Ceph Tech Talks after a long gap, with documentation the explicit Q1 priority. Per Ceph Q1 2026 Newsletter.
Operational signals from the field. Two recurring 2026 failure modes: a 5-node Ceph 19.2.3 cluster freezing on node reentry under STP ring-topology peering storms (reported on the Proxmox forum), and CephFS outages after Debian Trixie upgrade/reboot cycles where the MDS fails to rejoin cleanly. Community runbooks now lean harder on total-power-loss recovery — worth pre-rehearsing in production. Per Proxmox forum.