Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ceph VS BeeGFS

Compare Ceph VS BeeGFS and see what are their differences

Ceph logo Ceph

Ceph is a distributed object store and file system designed to provide excellent performance...

BeeGFS logo BeeGFS

  Download What is BeeGFS? BeeGFS (formerly FhGFS) is a parallel cluster file system, developed with a strong focus on performance and designed for very easy installation and management.
  • Ceph Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-16
  • BeeGFS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-05

Ceph features and specs

  • Scalability
    Ceph is designed to scale horizontally by adding more nodes. This allows for seamless expansion of storage capacity as needs grow.
  • High Availability
    Ceph provides high availability and fault tolerance through its distributed architecture and data replication methods, ensuring data is always accessible.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, Ceph has a large community of developers and users which help in rapid identification and rectification of issues. It also offers lower cost of ownership compared to proprietary solutions.
  • Versatility
    Ceph supports block storage, object storage, and file systems within the same cluster, providing great flexibility and reducing the need for multiple storage solutions.
  • Performance
    Ceph delivers high performance, particularly for large-scale deployments, by balancing loads and efficiently distributing data.

Possible disadvantages of Ceph

  • Complexity
    Setting up and maintaining a Ceph cluster can be complex and requires skilled administrators, which might not be suitable for smaller organizations.
  • Resource Intensive
    Ceph can be resource-heavy, demanding significant CPU, memory, and network resources, which can be a limitation for smaller setups.
  • Documentation
    Despite a rich set of features, Ceph’s documentation can sometimes be lacking or difficult for new users to comprehend, potentially leading to longer learning curves.
  • Hardware Requirements
    Ceph typically requires high-quality, enterprise-grade hardware to achieve optimal performance and reliability, which can entail a higher upfront investment.
  • Operational Overhead
    Day-to-day management, monitoring, and troubleshooting of Ceph clusters require a specialized skill set, leading to possible increases in operational overhead.

BeeGFS features and specs

  • Performance
    BeeGFS is designed for high-performance computing environments, delivering excellent data throughput and low latency. It efficiently manages parallel I/O and is well-suited for handling large volumes of data in a distributed file system.
  • Scalability
    The architecture of BeeGFS allows it to scale efficiently both horizontally and vertically, making it capable of handling growing amounts of data by adding more servers and storage devices without significant restructuring.
  • Flexibility
    BeeGFS supports a range of storage configurations and can be integrated with various types of storage hardware. It also offers flexibility in its deployment, working in diverse environments and allowing easy configuration changes.
  • Ease of Use
    It provides user-friendly tools and comprehensive documentation that aid in the installation, configuration, and maintenance of the file system, making it accessible even to organizations without extensive HPC expertise.
  • Community and Support
    BeeGFS has a strong community and professional support options, including a range of expert services and resources, ensuring users can get help and advice when needed.

Possible disadvantages of BeeGFS

  • Cost
    While BeeGFS has open-source components, certain features and support options may require licensing fees or additional costs, which could be a consideration for budget-conscious organizations.
  • Complexity
    Despite its ease of use, the initial setup and configuration of a distributed file system like BeeGFS can be complex and may require skilled personnel to optimize performance and reliability.
  • Specific Use Cases
    BeeGFS is specifically designed for high-performance and technical computing environments. Organizations with more general-purpose needs might find its capabilities exceeding their requirements.
  • Hardware Dependency
    The performance benefits of BeeGFS might heavily depend on the underlying hardware configuration, potentially necessitating investment in high-performance storage and networking infrastructure.
  • Potential Overhead
    Like any distributed file system, there might be computational and network overheads associated with maintaining the distributed metadata and managing parallel I/O operations, possibly impacting performance if not managed properly.

Ceph videos

UDS 2013-03: Ceph Review - Part 1/2

More videos:

  • Review - Designing for High Performance Ceph at Scale
  • Review - RHCS 4 Cockpit Ceph Installer

BeeGFS videos

BeeGFS High Availability Features with Built in Monitoring - Oriol Mula Valls, HPCNow!

More videos:

  • Review - Transtec: Delivering BeeGFS for High Performance Computing
  • Review - Hussein N. Harake (CSCS) - Evaluation of BeeGFS parallel filesystem

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ceph and BeeGFS)
Cloud Storage
82 82%
18% 18
Cloud Computing
80 80%
20% 20
Storage
78 78%
22% 22
Object Storage
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Ceph and BeeGFS

Ceph Reviews

Simplyblock as alternative to Ceph: A Comprehensive Comparison
Ceph utilizes its own storage driver (rbd) that is integrated into the Linux Kernel and can also be used on other platforms as a third-party driver. It enables seamless connectivity between hosts and the Ceph cluster. In addition to OpenStack, Ceph offers deep integrations with Kubernetes through a separate CSI driver, as well as other platforms.
Best & Cheapest Object Storage Providers With S-3 Support
The libraries of Ceph support applications built in Java, C, C++, PHP, Python, and other languages. It also gives these apps access to its object storage platform via a native API.
Source: macpost.net
What are the alternatives to S3?
Ceph is a software-defined storage platform that implements object storage. Its interface is built with the same storage system that provides the librados interface, making it have the same abilities as librados like read-only snapshot and revert to snapshot. The software delivers Object, File, and Block storage in a single, unified system. Ceph is S3 compatible, and its...
Source: www.w6d.io
Ceph Storage Platform Alternatives in 2022
Open-Source software platforms are not free but you can use them as community edition or with limited features. The above storage platforms have same goals but also have some different abilities and capabilities, so choosing or using them is depended to your requirements and budget. About Ceph, I think that Ceph is still the best and there is no limitation for community...
15 FreeNAS Alternatives 2020 | Best Storage Operating System
PetaSAN is a Ceph-based iSCSI cluster, open-source FreeNAS alternative, known widely for its end-to-end integrated solution and scale-out SAN arrangement that offers impressive adaptability and execution. Its latest cloud storage technology makes it corporate-efficient to manage large data storage in one unit; run on the Linux operating system, the program has many nodes...

BeeGFS Reviews

Ceph Storage Platform Alternatives in 2022
BeeGFS is a hardware-independent POSIX parallel file system (a.k.a Software-defined Parallel Storage) developed with a strong focus on performance and designed for ease of use, simple installation, and management. BeeGFS is created on an Available Source development model (source code is publicly available), offering a self-supported Community Edition and a fully supported...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ceph seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 11 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Ceph mentions (11)

  • 10 open source tools that platform, SRE and DevOps engineers should consider in 2024.
    Ceph stands out in storage technology, offering a scalable and reliable solution where traditional systems fall short. It supports object, block, and file storage in one system, adaptable for various environments including on-premises, cloud, or container-native setups. Key benefits include scalability, enabled by the CRUSH algorithm, allowing for expansion without typical downtime. This makes Ceph suitable for... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • iSCSI over WAN / backup of remote site
    With that being said, you better take a look at something more WAN optimized and more secure, like S3 storage. You can build the S3 storage (and gain immutability) using something like MinIO (https://min.io/) or Ceph (https://ceph.io/en/) or check out Object First Ootbi offerings - https://objectfirst.com/object-storage/ (I work for them). Source: over 1 year ago
  • What's the best AWS S3 protocol alternative?
    I believe Ceph [1] could be a good alternative. It can be self hosted and I believe some cloud providers also offer it. Here are some differences between S3 and Ceph [2]. [1] - https://ceph.io/en/ [2] - https://www.lightbitslabs.com/blog/ceph-storage/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Seeking Advice & Opinions: Hybrid NAS/Cloud Storage for Family Use
    Another option is a distributed Ceph cluster https://ceph.io/en/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • First Time NAS buyer for Digital Textile Printing Factory
    There's also cool systems like https://ceph.io/en/ that could be efficient if willing to set up and learn. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

BeeGFS mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of BeeGFS yet. Tracking of BeeGFS recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ceph and BeeGFS, you can also consider the following products

Minio - Minio is an open-source minimal cloud storage server.

GlusterFS - GlusterFS is a scale-out network-attached storage file system.

StorPool - StorPool is designed from the ground up to provide cloud builders, shared hosting providers and MSPs with the most resource efficient storage software on the market.

Seaweed FS - SeaweedFS is a simple and highly scalable distributed file system to store and serve billions of files fast! SeaweedFS object store has O(1) disk seek and SeaweedFS Filer supports cross-cluster replication, POSIX, S3 API, ,…

PetaSAN - PetaSAN is an open source Scale-Out SAN solution offering massive scalability and performance.

MooseFS - MooseFS is a fault tolerant, network distributed file system.