Abstract: An apparatus in one embodiment comprises a storage system configured to implement at least one scalable video server. The storage system comprises a software-defined storage pool, and the scalable video server comprises a plurality of file system storage nodes each including a corresponding portion of the software-defined storage pool and an associated file system server. A streaming bandwidth of the scalable video server for a given video stream is controlled by adjusting the number of file system storage nodes utilized for the given video stream in the scalable video server. The file system servers of the respective file system storage nodes are configured to interact with a file system client associated with the given video stream. The streaming bandwidth of the scalable video server for the given video stream may be dynamically adjusted by adding or deleting file system storage nodes to or from the scalable video server.

Abstract: An apparatus in one embodiment comprises a storage system having a plurality of object storage servers. A software-defined storage controller of the storage system configures a unified memory cluster accessible to each of the plurality of object storage servers. The object storage servers collectively implement a distributed tiered parallel file system, such as a distributed tiered Lustre file system. The unified memory cluster may comprise portions of respective flash memories of a plurality of nodes of the storage system where each of the nodes comprises a corresponding one of the object storage servers. Objects stored in the flash memory of one of the nodes are mirrored into the flash memories of one or more other ones of the nodes under the control of the software-defined storage controller.

Abstract: A storage system comprises a storage array, a network file system configured to communicate with the storage array, a server associated with the network file system, a client configured to communicate over a first path with the network file system via the server and to communicate directly with the storage array over a second path that bypasses the network file system, and a block cache arranged in the second path between the client and the storage array. The server may comprise a multi-path file system (MPFS) server and the client may comprise an MPFS client, with the MPFS server and the MPFS client being configured to communicate using a file mapping protocol. The block cache is illustratively implemented using a VFCache or other type of server flash cache.

Abstract: Three contiguous segments of video data are kept in video cache memory for streaming video data to a host application from a video file in data storage. For example, three buffers are allocated in the cache memory for each video stream, and at any given time during sequential access, a particular one of the three buffers is a middle buffer from which pre-fetched data is streamed to the host application. For forward or backward streaming, the buffers also include a backward buffer as well as a forward buffer on opposite sides of the middle buffer. In order to simplify the assembling of the buffers, a shift or rotation of the roles of the buffers and an asynchronous pre-fetch for continuance of a stream or for a switched direction of a stream is triggered by the cache state of the offset requested by the video application.