Open-E Data Storage Software for Virtualization

Create a sophisticated enterprise infrastructure with Open-E JovianDSS Data Storage and VMware, Citrix, Microsoft, or any other certified hypervisor.

Open-E JovianDSS Virtualization Options: Your Hypervisor-agnostic Data Storage

As virtualization is one of the most effective data storage practices, you should be able to choose from a wide range of hypervisors to pick the one that most likely suits your preferences. That is exactly why we care about providing hypervisor-agnostic data storage solutions. In fact, 80% of Open-E implementations involve virtualization, whether it’s data storage for virtualization or virtualized storage, and it supports VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Proxmox, Xen, XenServer, Citrix, XCP-ng, and more. The result is a cost-effective, flexible, and scalable solution for virtualization that offers high availability, high performance, and data efficiency.

Open-E JovianDSS utilizes Thin Provisioning and Overallocation (through iSCSI, Fibre Channel, and NFS protocols) to host hundreds of virtual machines in a relatively small storage space. Thanks to its flexibility, you can use Open-E JovianDSS as a physical data storage backend for virtualization and a virtualized data storage (virtual machine) within the hypervisor.

Hypervisor-agnostic Software

Learn more about the benefits of Open-E's hypervisor-agnostic approach for the data storage software. 

Proxmox VE
Integration

Check the details of Open-E JovianDSS integration with Proxmox VE open source virtualization platform. 

VMware-ready
Data Storage

Find out the details of the Open-E JovianDSS certification to be used with VMware platform.

Possible Models of Open‑E JovianDSS Deployments
in Virtual Environments


Open-E JovianDSS as a Storage Backend for the Hypervisor

Benefits:

  • Native (higher than virtualized) storage performance
  • A straightforward, easy-to-configure solution
  • More flexibility in terms of hardware and storage infrastructure

Note! This configuration requires 2 physical servers and it results in higher TCO (total cost of ownership). It also has more potential points of hardware failure than other models.
 

Open-E JovianDSS as Virtualized Storage Within the Hypervisor

Benefits:

  • Convenient maintenance with full remote management
  • Faster deployment compared to a solution with a hardware-based storage backend
  • Less hardware is required

Note! In this configuration, the CPU is shared with the hypervisor, storage, and virtual machines which results in lower storage performance. Additionally, the hypervisor is a single point of failure here.
 

Open-E JovianDSS as Virtualized Storage Within a HA Cluster of VMware Hypervisors

Open-E JovianDSS as Virtualized Storage Within a HA Cluster of VMware Hypervisors scheme

Benefits:

  • Eliminates a single point of failure due to failovers between both the storage servers and the hypervisors.
  • Ensures uninterrupted operations in typical failure scenarios.

Note! This configuration requires 2 physical servers and it results in higher TCO.
 

Open-E JovianDSS as a Storage Backend in Fully Virtualized Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI)

Benefits:

  • All infrastructure – inc. networking – is fully virtualized and therefore fully configurable
  • Less IT infrastructure complexity
  • Deploys on commodity hardware
  • Most efficient maintenance and management
  • Lowest TCO in many scenarios

Note! This configuration is not suitable for scenarios that require the highest possible performance available e.g. big data processing.
 

Accelerate Your Hyper-Converged Infrastructure
– Download the Brochure


Download the Guide
Download the Guide

File size: 7.7 MB

Delve into our brochure to uncover comprehensive insights into data storage within hyper-converged infrastructure. Discover numerous benefits, including:

  • Energy conservation
  • Seamless hardware integration and availability
  • Facilitation of capacity expansion
  • Centralized management
  • Data protection in a novel ecosystem
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WEBINAR | Cut Proxmox VE Data Storage Costs 20% | Open-E JovianDSS Plugin Overview & Live Demo
Webinar Video

WEBINAR | Cut Proxmox VE Data Storage Costs 20% | Open-E JovianDSS Plugin Overview & Live Demo

Watch a detailed solution breakdown showing where the 20% savings come from, followed by an in-depth live demo by Janusz Bak, Open-E CTO, who demonstrates the full feature set and functionality step-by-step.During the webinar we received a number of questions. As promised here we provide all the answers from our Q&A session:[ ? ] Can I send the ZFS snapshots to PBS, or is it Proxmox Backup Server taking the backupsCurrently, you cannot send ZFS snapshots directly to Proxmox Backup Server (PBS). PBS handles backups by taking full backups that are split and stored in chunks. However, developers and the community are actively working on a plugin solution to integrate ZFS snapshot transfers with PBS in the future.[ ? ] Is this a single plugin for both iSCSI and NFS, or are there two separate plugins?It is a single plugin that contains both iSCSI and NFS functionality built into it. It was initially advertised for iSCSI while NFS was undergoing QA testing, but both capabilities were included in the same plugin from the beginning and are now fully supported.[ ? ] Can Proxmox operate over iSCSI with a JovianDSS HA Metro Cluster as the target? Proxmox runs on several independent servers (hypervisors).Yes. A JovianDSS HA Metro Cluster running on separate bare-metal servers can provide iSCSI storage to multiple Proxmox hosts or even multiple Proxmox clusters. This is supported through the cluster-prefix property in the plugin configuration.[ ? ] Are there any performance differences of VMs when comparing iSCSI vs NFS?The performance difference is very minimal and comparable, depending on whether you measure random or sequential reads/writes. However, iSCSI is preferred for mission-critical setups because it supports true switch-agnostic multipathing, whereas NFS requires network bonding, which depends on specific switch capabilities and can encounter issues during network disruptions.[ ? ] Is PBS using a JovianDSS Pool as Backup Storage, or is it using disks of the 3rd PVE Node in this demo?In the demo, PBS uses local NVMe disks on the Proxmox server (configured as a local ZFS pool passed through to the PBS instance), not a JovianDSS pool. The setup relies directly on built-in ZFS capabilities within PBS, so JovianDSS is not required for backup storage here.[ ? ] In case we use NFS isn't better to backup snapshots to 3rd Open-E JovianDSS instance on that 3rd server?Yes. When using NFS, JovianDSS On- and Off-site Data Protection (OODP), the built-in backup and replication functionality, can be used as a backup and disaster recovery solution.With the NFS part of the plugin, multiple virtual disks are stored in a single ZFS dataset. A single OODP replication task can therefore back up all virtual disks stored in that dataset at the same time.[ ? ] Does Metro Cluster need extra Network interfaces between the Open-E VM on the PVE?Yes. The Metro Cluster requires a dedicated Mirror Path. The recommended configuration is a switchless, direct point-to-point connection using either a single network interface or bonded interfaces.In our webinar demo, we configured one NIC as a PCI passthrough device. As a result, JovianDSS sees it as a physical NIC rather than a virtual interface. This passthrough NIC is used for the Mirror Path.The passthrough NICs in pve1 and pve2 are connected directly to each other using a point-to-point connection, without a network switch.A direct point-to-point connection is recommended for the Mirror Path, although a switched network connection is also supported.

Open-E JovianDSS HA2026-HC Cluster-in-a-Box
Certified Server

Open-E JovianDSS HA2026-HC Cluster-in-a-Box

The Open-E JovianDSS HA2026-HC Cluster-in-a-Box is a high-availability, purpose-built data storage system engineered for mission-critical enterprise workloads. Developed in collaboration with Abacus and AIC, this solution combines high-performance all-flash NVMe hardware with enterprise-grade software-defined storage. Featuring active-active dual-node redundancy, full ZFS data integrity, native dataset encryption, real-time deduplication, and automated self-healing, it delivers seamless zero-downtime operation for demanding environments.

Open-E JovianDSS Integration with Proxmox VE - Efficient Virtualization with Open-source Solution
Solution

Open-E JovianDSS Integration with Proxmox VE - Efficient Virtualization with Open-source Solution

See how our team took hypervisor-agnosticism to the next level! Experience a new, stable, and reliable way of managing your virtual machines & their data thanks to Open-E JovianDSS storage back-end for Proxmox VE!

Hypervisor-agnosticism as a Key to Cost-Efficient Virtualization
Blog

Hypervisor-agnosticism as a Key to Cost-Efficient Virtualization

Virtualization is a great way to cut energy costs, even up to 80%, with an additional 31% when creating a hyper-converged infrastructure. It stands as a pivotal technology for running …

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Find the Exact License for Your Storage Setup


This calculator helps you to find the exact license required for your storage setup with Open-E JovianDSS, based on your individual specification.

Enter the configuration of your choice into the calculator and generate a PDF report.

 

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