Data integrity is the “holy grail” of enterprise storage. For years, Persistent Memory (DCPMM) was the gold standard for protecting “in-flight” data during power outages. But as the hardware landscape evolves, software-defined storage leaders, like Lightbits, are proving that you can achieve elite-level protection using the same NVMe® SSDs already in your rack.
I’m excited to dive into the Lightbits SSD Journaling feature—a game-changer for high-performance, resilient storage.
Why SSD Journaling Matters
In a perfect world, power never fails. In the real world, an abrupt outage can trap data in the write buffer before it hits the physical disk. Lightbits SSD Journaling acts as a high-speed, persistent storage safety net.
By recording write requests to a dedicated, low-latency journal before acknowledging them to the client, Lightbits ensures that even if the lights go out, your data is never lost. Upon reboot, the system simply “replays” the journal, committing any pending writes to the data disks.
Key Benefits of the SSD Journaling Feature:
- Persistent Protection: Offers protection against simultaneous power outages across multiple servers (for replicated volumes) and even single-server outages for single-replica volumes.
- Hardware Flexibility: Move away from specialized DCPMM modules and leverage high-end, write-intensive NVMe SSDs.
- Scalable Performance: Support for up to 4 journaling devices per instance in a RAID0 configuration. More devices = higher write throughput and lower latency.
- Intelligent Recovery: After a failure, the node automatically recovers outstanding entries and persists them to data disks before resuming normal operations.
- For more information, see https://documentation.lightbitslabs.com/lightbits-private-cloud/ssd-journaling
Strategic Sizing for Peak Performance
Not all SSDs are created equal. For journaling, Lightbits recommends “write-intensive” drives (TLC or better) with high Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD).
The math is simple: DWPD × Disk Size × # of Disks > 80TB. Whether you use a single ultra-high endurance drive like the Micron XTR or a cluster of Kioxia CD8P-V drives, the SSD Journaling feature adapts to your specific IOPS and bandwidth requirements.
The Path Forward
Journaling hits General Availability (GA) in Lightbits v3.17.1. The roadmap is even more exciting, with future support for adding/removing devices post-installation and enhanced recovery workflows.
Lightbits continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in NVMe over TCP storage, proving that you don’t need complex, proprietary hardware to achieve world-class data resilience. Is your storage architecture ready for the next power outage? If you have questions or want to give Lightbits a spin, reach out to us at lightbitslabs.com.