Taming the Multi-Protocol Jungle

Learn how to address the complex challenges of multi-protocol data access in modern storage environments through this 52-minute conference talk from SNIA SDC 2025. Explore the evolution of I/O workflows over the past 30+ years, from traditional file protocols to object protocols, and understand how permission granularity control has expanded from simple modebits to sophisticated Access Control Lists and Identity Policies. Discover the exponential growth in dataset sizes and the complexity of modern AI and machine learning workflows that require seamless data access across multiple protocols with different permissioning methods. Examine the challenges of building bridges between file and object protocols while ensuring consistent access rights to the same dataset regardless of the protocol used. Understand VAST Data's protocol-agnostic approach that eliminates the traditional boundaries between NFS files, SMB shares, S3 objects, NTFS ACLs, and NFS modebits in favor of a flexible permissioning model. Learn how this approach enables users to create data via NFS, analyze it via SMB, and share it via S3 without moving, relocating, or re-permissioning data. Gain insights into managing users, metadata, permissions, and security policies at scale across NFS, SMB, and object storage protocols, while exploring performance optimization techniques for maintaining consistent access rights and protocol flexibility based on specific use cases.