Alluxio Offers Data Orchestration For Hybrid, Multi-Cloud Systems

Alluxio has taken the wraps off a new release of its data orchestration software with new tools and expanded functionality for connecting data sources scattered across hybrid and multi-cloud systems.

The Alluxio Data Orchestration Platform 2.4 release is designed to link data-driven applications, including AI tools and business analytics software, with dispersed data sources such as Hadoop-based data lakes, Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage, said Haoyuan Li, Alluxio founder and CEO, in an interview with CRN.

“We create a new layer between data-driven applications and data sources,” Li said. Noting the huge volumes of data being generated, collected and stored today, he said: “We enable all these applications to better leverage all this data.”

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Data stores and the applications and analytics tools that require access to data are increasingly distributed across on-premises, hybrid and multi-cloud systems, including public and private cloud platforms, for business agility and cost effectiveness, according to Li.

But that complicates efforts to link operational applications and analytical systems with the data they need.

Li created the Alluxio software at U.C. Berkeley in 2014 as Project Tachyon, then founded San Mateo, Calif.-based Alluxio in 2015 to commercialize the technology. The company offers both a commercial enterprise edition of the product and an open-source community edition of the software.

Creating a new layer of abstraction between compute and data storage, the Alluxio system creates a unified name space for data accessibility, improving data management and accelerating performance when, for example, a company is conducting data processing with on-premises systems using data stored in the cloud.

Alluxio Data Orchestration Platform 2.4, available now, extends the software’s data linkage capabilities with an expanded metadata service, a new management console for hybrid and multi-cloud systems, and support for additional cloud-native deployments.

A metadata service is at the core of the Alluxio platform and the service in the latest release has been expanded in both the volume of data and number of files it supports, according to the company. In addition to now supporting billions of files, the 2.4 release also removes third-party system dependencies such as Hadoop components, bolstering support for cloud-native and container-based deployments.

The new console, the Alluxio Data Orchestration Hub, is a web-based console for managing connectivity across multiple data sources, providing a unified management view for cluster configuration and monitoring. The Hub also offers self-guided wizard technology for connect data sources.

The 2.4 release is integrated with HashiCorp’s Vault system for secure management of sensitive data, provides simplified DevOps and system monitoring, and supports Java 11 while maintaining support for Java 8.

While Alluxio works directly with most of its bigger clients, the startup also works with strategic service providers and systems integrators for some deployments.