NetApp Unveils Application-Integrated Data Management For Kubernetes

Cloud data services provider NetApp has introduced Project Astra, a vision for a software-defined platform that is currently in development with the Kubernetes community. Project Astra will deliver the industry’s most robust, easy-to-consume, enterprise-class storage and data services platform for Kubernetes that enables both application and data portability for stateful applications, said the firm.

Although companies everywhere are rapidly adopting Kubernetes, many organisations lack reliable data and application services, and have difficulty making application data as portable as the applications themselves are in Kubernetes. Yet to meet the standards that CIOs expect, IT teams and site reliability engineers must find a way to store, govern, protect, and replicate the data for both stateless and stateful cloud-native applications with enterprise-class cloud storage and data services.

Project Astra is being purpose-built for and in collaboration with Kubernetes developers and operations managers to help bridge the fundamental gap that exists between the popularity of containers today, the capabilities and user experience they require, and their ability to deliver true, comprehensive portability. NetApp’s vision for Project Astra is to enable companies to work seamlessly with their choice of Kubernetes distribution, on any cloud.

Project Astra leverages the underlying technology delivered through NetApp’s public cloud partners and enhances it through Kubernetes-native integration of data services with applications.

NetApp is working with the Kubernetes community to further develop technology that advances the user experience and extends the promise of Kubernetes to data-rich workloads. Together, NetApp and the Kubernetes community are building a platform to help customers:

• Discover applications with your Kubernetes of choice, whether on your premises or in any cloud
• Integrate and unify applications and data management
• Deliver NetApp’s expertise in data and Kubernetes both as a service and as built-in capabilities
• Extend the promise of portability for all workloads, including stateful, data-rich apps

“Project Astra represents the next major step in the evolution of storage and data services for Kubernetes,” said Anthony Lye, Senior Vice President and General Manager of NetApp’s Cloud Data Services business unit. “We are making a decisive and long-term commitment to addressing the data challenges of Kubernetes, together with the communities and platforms that use it. Project Astra will provide a software-defined architecture and set of tools that can plug into any Kubernetes distribution and management environment.”

Project Astra builds on NetApp’s experience in enabling customers to manage petabytes of container data with NetApp Trident and NetApp Kubernetes Services and adds a specific focus on the developers and operations managers who are innovating with containers today.