Ceph storage on Ubuntu

Ceph provides a flexible open source storage option for OpenStack, Kubernetes or as a stand-alone storage cluster.

Use Ceph on Ubuntu to reduce the costs of running storage clusters at scale on commodity hardware. Get access to a proven storage technology solution and 24x7 support with Ubuntu Advantage for Infrastructure.

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Ceph storage done right

Designed from the ground up for petabyte-scale deployments, Canonical's Ceph solution includes all open source components with highly automated operations to drive down the cost of ownership. We specifically offer pricing models that match either your CAPEX budget or consumption-oriented pay-for-what-you-use engagements that mirror public cloud pricing models at on-prem costs.


In the early days of Ceph, Yahoo! Japan searched for a local company who could support them in the implementation of an open-source distributed storage solution from the Linux operating system all the way to Ceph. Canonical provided not only Ceph but also the tooling and expertise that reduced the OPEX associated with managing a large storage cluster.

Find out more about Yahoo! Japan's Ceph cluster ›

The Wellcome Sanger Institute initially opted for self-maintained Ceph storage, but as their capacity needs grew from 3 PB to over 20 PB, they turned to Canonical to resolve their scaling issues. With the help of Canonical support, the Institute's latest Ceph rollout decreased from a month to just four days.

Find out about Wellcome Sanger's path to a cost-effective Ceph infrastructure ›

Ceph storage deployment and operations

Canonical can help you to design and install your Ceph cluster or provide consulting to enable you to run Ceph autonomously. If you are interested in having automated Ceph day 2 operations, you can opt for our offerings of Charmed Ceph, a Ceph cluster encapsulated in Juju charms, or Managed Ceph — a Ceph cluster fully managed by Canonical.

Benefits of Ceph on Ubuntu

Whether you choose to use your own operational framework or leverage the advantages of Charmed Ceph, the choice is yours. Each Ubuntu LTS release ships a version of Ceph that is supported for up to 10 years. Newer releases of Ceph can be installed from the Ubuntu Cloud Archive allowing flexibility for selecting the right version of Ceph for your environment. To maximise Ceph upgrade flexibility for customers, Ceph versions are regularly released and maintained via the Ubuntu updates and security repositories, as well as the Ubuntu Cloud Archive. This leads to a flexible mix between remaining at the forefront of innovation and long-term support predictability.

With many global enterprises and telco operators running Ceph on Ubuntu, organisations are able to combine block, object and file storage at scale while tapping into the economic and upstream benefits of open source.

Ubuntu, Openstack and Ceph support cadence

Charmed Ceph for best economics in the datacenter

Using Juju as our application model-driven operations tool, it is possible to manage the entire lifecycle of the configuration, management, operation and deployment process of a Ceph cluster. Ceph charms simplify both installation automation as well as day-2 operations orchestration such as upgrades and OSD maintenance operations while remaining interoperable with other configuration management recipes previously created.

Features of Charmed Ceph

  • Highly scalable from terabytes to exabytes
  • Highly reliable with no single point of failure in the cluster
  • Fault-tolerant through data distribution and replication
  • Highly secure through client authentication
  • Compatible with Amazon S3 and OpenStack Swift APIs
  • Low CAPEX by using commodity hardware
  • Low OPEX through failure detection, self-management and self-healing
  • Configurable and optimisable for cost and performance

Encryption at rest with Openstack

Charmed OpenStack allows for encryption at rest to be configured through our Ceph charms which provide data encryption and integrity assurance for Ceph OSDs.


Tested architecture

Our architecture around Ceph has been developed after extensive testing and production experience and utilises nearline SAS or SATA drives as bulk storage to drive lower storage costs with NVME flash as a cache device to maintain performance levels.

Getting started with Ceph on Ubuntu

Ceph support on Ubuntu

  • Ceph support is included in Ubuntu Advantage for Infrastructure
  • Simple and predictable pricing model
  • Up to 72 TB of raw storage included per node
  • Best pricing in the industry for clusters exceeding this allowance
  • Get access to the storage experts 24x7 or on business hours
  • Alternatively, get extended security maintenance if all you need is peace of mind by consuming security patches from the world's leading security team

Charmed Ceph

  • Deploy complex Ceph clusters in minutes
  • Upgrade the storage to newer software versions
  • Provide model-driven orchestration for repeatability and predictability
  • Configure the nodes consistently across various node types
  • Replace failing disk drives and retire old hardware
  • Expand the capacity of your storage cluster

Managed Ceph

  • Fully managed storage cluster, on your fun88体育s, at your location
  • Built in 2 weeks using a proven reference architecture
  • Customise the architecture in iterations based on your storage needs
  • Your team has access to all machines at all times
  • Modern monitoring and log management
  • We will hand over the keys when you are ready