Hammerspace
Introduction
Hammerspace is a software solution that creates a global data environment mimicking the experience of local access to globally distributed data. Data connected under Hammerspace can include both different, typically incompatible storage types such as datacenters and cloud storage, as well as locations. Hammerspace provides a unified view and control over all connected data as a single, easily accessible dataset.
Contact Hammerspace for a demo.
Universal data access layer: read and write to data from anywhere in the world.
- Unify your Storj data with data residing in legacy DAS, NAS, SAN, object storage, and other cloud storage environments.
- Multiple mechanisms to protect data from disasters and attacks: snapshots, undelete, WORM (write once read many), file versioning.
- Unified view of files with a rich metadata layer: only necessary data is replicated when a file is accessed and worked on.
To integrate Storj with Hammerspace, you will need to create S3 credentials in Storj and add them within Hammerspace. Veeam uses a wizard to guide users in adding S3-compatible cloud storage.
- An active Storj account
- A bucket for Hammerspace in your Storj instance
- An working Hammerspace environment
To begin, you will need to create a Storj account. If you already an account, go to https://storj.io/login.
Navigate to https://storj.io/signup to sign up. Enter your full name, email address, and a password, as shown below:
Create a Bucket
Once you have your Storj account, create a Storj bucket for Hammerspace following the steps below. This is the bucket that Hammerspace will access.
1. Navigate to “Buckets” on the left side menu.
2. Click “New Bucket” on the top right.
3. Assign the bucket an easily identifiable name, such as "veeam".
4. Select “Continue”.
5. Generate a passphrase or enter your own.
6. Select “Continue”.
7. Record the passphrase somewhere safe.
Remember your passphrase as you will need it for future access of your data. Storj is unable to recover your passphrase for you.
You will need to generate S3 credentials for Hammerspace to access your bucket in Storj. S3 credentials consist of an access key, secret key, and endpoint. You will need to store them somewhere safe, as they cannot be recovered.
Create S3 credentials in the Storj web console:
- Navigate to “Access” on the left side menu
- Click “Create S3 Credentials” under the S3 Credentials block.
3. When the Create Access screen comes up, set specifications according to the following guidelines:
- Type: S3 Credentials
- Name: The name of the credentials (e.g. hammerspace)
- Permissions: All
- Buckets: Feel free to specify the bucket you created above (e.g. hammerspace), or leave as “All”
4. Check the "Encryption Information" pop-up message that says, "By generating S3 credentials, you are opting in to server-side encryption". The click "Continue".
5. Select your passphrase encryption from either the "Generate Passphrase" or "Create My Own Passphrase" options. This is the passphrase used to access the files in your bucket.
6. You can then click one of the "Copy to Clipboard" or "Download .txt" options.
7. Check the message to acknowledge that you have read it: "I understand that Storj does not know or store my encryption passphrase. If I lose it, I won't be able to recover files."
8. Click the "Create My Access" button.
9. Your S3 credentials are created. Write them down and store them, or click the "Download .txt" button. You will need these credentials for the following steps.
Hammerspace Configuration
This integration guide assumes that you have access to an active Hammerspace environment. To add Storj to your Hammerspace environment, follow the steps below:
1. Log in to your Hammerspace environment.
2. Select the cloud and storage Infrastructure icon on the lefthand menu.
3. Select the Storage Systems tab, then the Add Storage System button.
4. In the Add Storage System window, enter something recognizable, such as "Storj," in the Name field. Then, in the Type drop-down, select the "Generic S3" option.
5. Enter the S3 credentials you generated earlier in the tutorial:
- Add the access key in the Access Key field.
- Add the secret key in the Secret Key field.
- Add the endpoint, which should be "https://gateway.storjshare.io" or similar, in the Endpoint field.
- Check the Use V4 auth signing box.
- Select Add Storage System.
6. You will now see your Storj instance listed under Storage Systems.
7. It is necessary to create a volume for the new Storj instance. This volume corresponds to the bucket you created earlier within Storj. Next to the Storj row in Storage Systems, select the + Volume button.
8. Choose the "hammerspace" bucket created earlier within Storj. Then select Next Step.
- If you want to share this bucket with another site, check the box under the Shared Volume column.
- If desired, set a limit on the bucket's capacity. The default is "Auto (Unlimited)".
9. Review your bucket's information in the Review & Add page. Then select Add Volumes
10. The bucket will now appear under the Volumes tab in the Infrastructure section of your Hammerspace environment. This signifies that Storj has been successfully added to Hammerspace.
Note: for more information on accessing data in your Storj volume, refer to Hammerspace's documentation.
