What's new in ECS 3.8.0.1
Thu, 08 Dec 2022 15:40:00 -0000
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ECS 3.8.0.1 includes these new and updated features:
- Increased data mobility and flexibility with new data mobility feature
- Expanded external key management (KMIP) support
- Object Lock enhancements for ADO
- Security Token Service (STS) GetFederationToken support
- New hardware disk sizing option for EX500
- Memory upgrade expansion
Data mobility
Data mobility, also known as copy-to-cloud, is a new feature in version 3.8.0.1. With data mobility, a user can copy local object data to an external S3 target, such as a secondary ECS that is not federated or a public cloud target (currently AWS targets only).
Data mobility is configured as a bucket option in the UI, as shown in Figure 1. It can be monitored by an account admin or system admin within the UI. The admin can define policies about source and target buckets and criteria for objects. The admin can also monitor the logs for all copy operations at the object level, including the copy time, source object key, object size, target endpoint, duration, and result of the copy operation.
Figure 1 Data mobility configuration
We have also extended our ecosystem to support a multi-cloud experience for Snowflake, which runs on the AWS public cloud platform. Dell and Snowflake customers can use on-premises data stored on Dell ECS while keeping their data local or seamlessly copying it to public clouds and use Snowflake’s ecosystem of cloud-based data analysis services.
Expanded external key management support
The Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP) is an extensible communication protocol that defines message formats for the manipulation of cryptographic keys on a key management server.
A new external key management cluster type to support Thales CipherTrust has been added since Gemalto SafeNet KeySecure will end of life on December 31, 2023. ECS customers who are using KeySecure can migrate to CipherTrust Manager.
Object Lock support with ADO enabled
ECS Object Lock enhancements for Access During Outage (ADO) have been added in ECS 3.8.0.1. Object Lock now supports ADO Read Only (RO) by default. For Read Write (RW) mode, ECS continues to deny setting Object Lock on ADO buckets by default. There are flags at the namespace and individual bucket level that require users to agree that they understand the risk of losing locked versions during TSO but would still like to enable this feature. Customers need to refer to the latest ECS Data Access Guide or ask the Dell support team to help enable Object Lock RW in ADO. Once flags are set on a bucket, they cannot be disabled.
The following table shows the Object Lock support matrix:
ECS version | Setting flags | Non-ADO | ADO RO | ADO RW |
3.6.2/3.7/partial upgrade
| Cannot set flags
| Yes | No | No |
Full upgrade to 3.8.0.1 | Set to not allowed (by default)
| Yes | Yes | No |
Set to allowed
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
STS GetFederationToken support
The GetFederationToken API is now part of Security Token Service (STS), along with AssumeRole and AssumeRoleWithSAML. It is called by the IAM user, and it returns a set of temporary security credentials (consisting of an access key ID, a secret access key, and a security token) for that user. This operation federates the user. A typical use is in a proxy application that gets temporary security credentials on behalf of distributed applications inside a corporate network. The ECS 3.8 Administration Guide on Dell Technologies Support provides more details.
New hardware disk sizing option
ECS version 3.8.0.1 extends disk sizing support. Customers can now select an ECS EX500 20 TB disk option.
Memory upgrade expansion
ECS version 3.8.0.1 supports memory upgrade expansion to 192 GB on EX300, EX500, EX3000, and Gen 2 platforms, with the support of Dell Professional Services. For more information, contact your ECS Customer Service representative.
Conclusion
ECS version 3.8.0.1 introduces new and updated platform features. It reiterates the core value proposition of ECS and our broader object portfolio, amplifying the benefits of the new capabilities in the 3.8.0.1 payload and related hardware updates.
For more information, see the ECS: Overview and Architecture White Paper on the ObjectScale and ECS Info Hub.