
We previously published a blog post on creating an ownCloud server on Cloud-A’s public cloud, but we would like to build upon that and show just how expandable and agile a Cloud-A hosted ownCloud deployment can be by introducing bulk storage.
By leveraging our Bulk Storage powered by Swift, users can expand the size of their ownCloud deployment very quickly and inexpensively to facilitate growth. Unlike a hardware deployment, where you would purchase drive space up front to account for future growth, a Cloud-A deployment will allow an organization to scale their storage as needed on a pay-as-you-go utility model.
Getting Started
We will begin with the assumption that you already have an ownCloud deployment running on Cloud-A with administrator access to the program.
Create an Object Storage Container
From your Cloud-A dashboard, select “Storage” and then “Containers.” Select “New Container,” and name the new container.
Configure External Storage in ownCloud
ownCloud comes prepackaged with external storage support, but the functionality must be enabled in the “apps” dashboard of your ownCloud instance. In the “apps” dashboard select “External storage support” on the left-hand side bar and enable it.
This will populate an External Storage section in your ownCloud Admin panel. Select “OpenStack Object Storage” from the “External Storage” dropdown menu and fill enter the following credentials:
Folder Name: Name your storage mount point.
User: Your Cloud-A username (your email address)
Bucket : The name of your Cloud-A container
Region: “regionOne”
Key: Your Cloud-A username
Tenant: your email address
Password: Your Cloud-A password
Service_name: “swift”
URL: https://keystone.ca-ns-1.clouda.ca:8443/v2.0
Timeout: Timeout of HTTP requests in seconds (optional)
If you have correctly input the information above and ownCloud accepts that information, a green dot will appear to the left of the folder name.
Validate External Storage
To further validate the access to the new external storage, go back to the main ownCloud screen by clicking the ownCloud logo in the top left corner, and select external storage. You should see your newly created ownCloud folder which points to your Cloud-A object storage powered by Swift.
Next Steps
Adding additional external object storage to your Cloud-A hosted ownCloud instance sets you free from the traditional limitations of hardware, allowing you to scale on demand. This is an ideal solution for any growing company looking to have control of their own data, but also have that data stored securely in Canada.
Stay tuned for the next post in our ownCloud series.