Ceph Cloud

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Ceph Cloud

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to Ceph Cloud.

Managed Ceph storage service providing scalable, distributed object, block and file storage (S3-compatible, RBD, CephFS). Offers replication and erasure coding, multi-tenant provisioning, API access, monitoring and automated cluster management for cloud-native workloads.

Alternatives List

#1
MinIO

MinIO

MinIO is a high-performance, S3-compatible object storage server for building private cloud storage, data lakes, and scalable storage backends for applications.

MinIO screenshot

MinIO is a high-performance object storage server that implements an Amazon S3-compatible API for storing and retrieving unstructured data such as backups, media, logs, and datasets. It is commonly used as a building block for private cloud storage, data lakes, and cloud-native applications.

Key Features

  • S3-compatible API for broad client and tooling compatibility
  • Bucket/object operations with an embedded web-based console for administration and browsing
  • Designed for high throughput and scalability for data-intensive workloads
  • Supports container and Kubernetes-based deployments (for example via Helm charts or an operator)

Use Cases

  • Private S3-compatible object storage for applications and internal platforms
  • Storage backend for backups, archives, and large binary assets
  • Object storage layer for analytics and data engineering pipelines

Limitations and Considerations

  • The community edition is distributed as source code only; pre-compiled legacy binaries are not maintained
  • The repository is in maintenance mode and is not accepting new changes

MinIO fits well when you need an S3-compatible object store under your control with strong performance characteristics. It is especially useful as an infrastructure component for modern, cloud-native stacks that expect S3 semantics.

59.8kstars
6.9kforks
#2
SeaweedFS

SeaweedFS

SeaweedFS is a fast distributed storage system providing blob, file, and S3-compatible object storage with optional filer, replication, and erasure coding.

SeaweedFS screenshot

SeaweedFS is a distributed storage system designed to store and serve billions of files efficiently. It combines a high-performance volume layer for blobs with an optional filer layer that adds directories, POSIX-like semantics, and multiple access protocols.

Key Features

  • Blob/volume store optimized for fast access with low per-file metadata overhead
  • Optional Filer service for directories and file metadata backed by pluggable metadata stores
  • S3-compatible object store via built-in S3 API and S3 gateway
  • Horizontal scale-out by adding volume servers without automatic rebalancing unless triggered
  • Replication with rack and data-center awareness, plus cross-cluster (xDC) replication options
  • Erasure coding for warm data to reduce storage cost while maintaining availability
  • Tiered storage and cloud tiering for extending capacity and optimizing cost
  • Multiple access methods including HTTP and WebDAV, plus POSIX FUSE mount
  • Kubernetes support via CSI driver and operator ecosystem
  • Encryption support (e.g., AES-GCM) for stored data in supported configurations

Use Cases

  • S3-compatible object storage for applications, backups, and artifacts
  • Distributed file storage with directory semantics and mountable access for teams and services
  • Data lake style storage for big data tools that need Hadoop-compatible access patterns

Limitations and Considerations

  • The Filer’s capabilities depend on the chosen metadata backend; availability and performance characteristics vary by backend.
  • Some advanced capabilities (e.g., certain erasure coding customizations) may differ between community and enterprise offerings.

SeaweedFS fits organizations that need scalable storage across blobs, files, and object APIs while keeping operational complexity relatively low. It is particularly useful when you want one system that can serve as both a fast local store and a tiered store that can extend into the cloud.

29.6kstars
2.7kforks

Why choose an open source alternative?

  • Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running