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diff --git a/doc/book/design/goals.md b/doc/book/design/goals.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..dea1d2c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/book/design/goals.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ ++++ +title = "Goals and use cases" +weight = 5 ++++ + +## Goals and non-goals + +Garage is a lightweight geo-distributed data store that implements the +[Amazon S3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/API/Welcome.html) +object storage protocole. It enables applications to store large blobs such +as pictures, video, images, documents, etc., in a redundant multi-node +setting. S3 is versatile enough to also be used to publish a static +website. + +Garage is an opinionated object storage solutoin, we focus on the following **desirable properties**: + + - **Self-contained & lightweight**: works everywhere and integrates well in existing environments to target [hyperconverged infrastructures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-converged_infrastructure). + - **Highly resilient**: highly resilient to network failures, network latency, disk failures, sysadmin failures. + - **Simple**: simple to understand, simple to operate, simple to debug. + - **Internet enabled**: made for multi-sites (eg. datacenters, offices, households, etc.) interconnected through regular Internet connections. + +We also noted that the pursuit of some other goals are detrimental to our initial goals. +The following has been identified as **non-goals** (if these points matter to you, you should not use Garage): + + - **Extreme performances**: high performances constrain a lot the design and the infrastructure; we seek performances through minimalism only. + - **Feature extensiveness**: we do not plan to add additional features compared to the ones provided by the S3 API. + - **Storage optimizations**: erasure coding or any other coding technique both increase the difficulty of placing data and synchronizing; we limit ourselves to duplication. + - **POSIX/Filesystem compatibility**: we do not aim at being POSIX compatible or to emulate any kind of filesystem. Indeed, in a distributed environment, such synchronizations are translated in network messages that impose severe constraints on the deployment. + +## Use-cases + +*Are you also using Garage in your organization? [Open a PR](https://git.deuxfleurs.fr/Deuxfleurs/garage) to add your use case here!* + +### Deuxfleurs + +[Deuxfleurs](https://deuxfleurs.fr) is an experimental non-profit hosting +organization that develops Garage. Deuxfleurs is focused on building highly +available infrastructure through redundancy in multiple geographical +locations. They use Garage themselves for the following tasks: + +- Hosting of [main website](https://deuxfleurs.fr), [this website](https://garagehq.deuxfleurs.fr), as well as the personal website of many of the members of the organization + +- As a [Matrix media backend](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse-s3-storage-provider) + +- To store personal data and shared documents through [Bagage](https://git.deuxfleurs.fr/Deuxfleurs/bagage), a homegrown WebDav-to-S3 proxy + +- In the Drone continuous integration platform to store task logs + +- As a Nix binary cache + +- As a backup target using `rclone` + +The Deuxfleurs Garage cluster is a multi-site cluster currently composed of +4 nodes in 2 physical locations. In the future it will be expanded to at +least 3 physical locations to fully exploit Garage's potential for high +availability. |