Ceph is a widely-used open-source software defined storage system that provides scalable and high-performance storage solutions for modern data centers. The latest release of Ceph, called Luminous, brings many new features and improvements to the platform.

One of the key highlights of the Luminous release is the introduction of the BlueStore backend. BlueStore is a new storage backend for the Ceph OSD (Object Storage Daemon) that bypasses the traditional file system for storing data directly on disk devices. This can result in significant performance improvements, especially for workloads that are IO-intensive.

Another important feature of Ceph Luminous is the new dashboard interface. The dashboard provides a web-based graphical user interface for managing and monitoring your Ceph cluster. It offers insights into the health and performance of your cluster, as well as the ability to perform administrative tasks such as adding or removing storage devices, configuring pools, and monitoring usage.

In addition to these new features, Ceph Luminous also includes improvements to the RBD (Rados Block Device) mirroring functionality. RBD mirroring allows you to replicate block devices across different Ceph clusters for disaster recovery or data migration purposes. The Luminous release introduces support for bi-directional mirroring, which means that changes made to the primary cluster are automatically replicated to the secondary cluster, and vice versa.

Furthermore, Ceph Luminous brings enhancements to the RGW (Rados Gateway) module, which provides a RESTful interface for accessing Ceph object storage. The new release includes improvements to performance, scalability, and multi-site support for RGW, making it easier to build and manage distributed storage solutions using Ceph.

Overall, Ceph Luminous is a significant milestone in the evolution of the Ceph platform. With new features such as BlueStore, the dashboard interface, improved RBD mirroring, and enhancements to RGW, Luminous offers a more robust and powerful storage solution for modern data centers. If you are looking for a scalable, high-performance storage system, Ceph Luminous is definitely worth considering.