930656 - SecReview: Ceph

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(mozilla.org :: Security Assurance: Review Request, task)

Description

[C. Liang [:cyliang]]

We'd like a review of Ceph, a distributed block storage system.  Initially, this would be used to provide seamless, cross DC fault-tolerance for static assets being used by the Mozilla Style Guide, this may find more broad usage within Mozilla.

Comment 1

[Curtis Koenig [:curtisk-use curtis.koenig+bzATgmail.com]]]

1) Who is/are the point of contact(s) for this review?
2) Please provide a short description of the feature / application (e.g. problem solved, use cases, etc.):
3) Please provide links to additional information (e.g. feature page, wiki) if available and not yet included in feature description:
4) Does this request block another bug? If so, please indicate the bug number
5) This review will be scheduled amongst other requested reviews. What is the urgency or needed completion date of this review?
6) To help prioritize this work request, does this project support a goal specifically listed on this quarter's goal list?  If so, which goal?
7) Please answer the following few questions: (Note: If you are asked to describe anything, 1-2 sentences shall suffice.)
7a) Does this feature or code change affect Firefox, Thunderbird or any product or service the Mozilla ships to end users?
7b) Are there any portions of the project that interact with 3rd party services?
7c) Will your application/service collect user data? If so, please describe
8) If you feel something is missing here or you would like to provide other kind of feedback, feel free to do so here (no limits on size):
9) Desired Date of review (if known from https://mail.mozilla.com/home/[e-mail]/Security%20Review.html) and whom to invite.

Comment 2

[Daniel Veditz [:dveditz]]

We cannot proceed without the required information.

Comment 3

[C. Liang [:cyliang]]

1. cyliang/gozer should be the points of contact for this.

2. Ceph is a distributed block storage system.  It would provide cross-DC fault tolerant storage that can support R/W access in multiple DCs without needing user intervention (i.e. initiating failover) in the case a DC becomes unavailable.  Logically, it overlaps with how NetApp and NFS are currently being used.

3. The official Ceph documentation can be found at http://ceph.com/docs/master/
Internal documentation about how this might be used within Mozilla has yet to be generated.

4. This does not block another bug.   In an informal Vidyo session on October 24th, I do not believe that there were significant flags against testing this with the move of static assets, but a full review should be done if this will be used more broadly within Mozilla.  

5. As long as my understanding in #4 is correct, this is not an urgent bug.

6. This is not part of a goal on the quarterly list.

7. a.  In the context of the static assets, I do not believe that this affects Firefox, Thunderbird or any product or service the Mozilla ships to end users.  However, if it is used more broadly, it may affect those services.

b. Ceph does not interact with third-party services.

c.  In the context of the static assets, no user data is being collected.  Again, if it is used more broadly, other projects may store user data in Ceph.

8.  A number of points of interest / areas of concern were brought up in the Oct. 24th vidyo call.  Additional documentation (i.e. sample data flows, structural diagram, etc.) are forthcoming.

9. No desired date of review.  The Storage and Virtualization folks may want to be invited as they would be heavily involved if Ceph ends up used more broadly at Mozilla.

Comment 4

[Guillaume Destuynder [:kang] [this account is no longer active]]

I'm currently in a team meet up week
Ill get to it next week

Comment 5

[Guillaume Destuynder [:kang] [this account is no longer active]]

is this related to taskcluster/etc?

At the releng meeting, it seems like various storage solutions were discussed:
WOS, CEPH, Swift, NetApp, Rsync

I just wanna make sure that what we're reviewing is going to get use (as this review will take a couple of days)

i'm otherwise going to start it tomorrow (today is a conference day as was yesterday)


thanks!

Comment 6

[C. Liang [:cyliang]]

kang -- The project that this review was originally for got shelved.  However, I do know that Ceph is under consideration for RelEng.  I'll loop in some of those folks to weigh in.

Comment 7

[Guillaume Destuynder [:kang] [this account is no longer active]]

ok, in that case I'm currently closing this request. Please reopen if this comes up again :)