Cleversafe a champion of open source cloud storage

The newest version of its Dispersed Storage Network, dtsNet, is now online at its forge site, although the company admits you really need to be a Linux geek to make it work.

But that's the deal, vp-product management Russ Kennedy told me on a call this week. Cleversafe is doing the core, the community needs to make it work.

"Our open source products are fully functional, with all the core components," he said. The commercial side is now working on a Java implementation, and hoping that interfaces come in from the outside.

In the Cleversafe system files are divided into sections called slices and then dispersed to a variety of places. In effect this encrypts the data, stores it efficiently, and protects it from physical harm, since it's located in multiple places.

"We're announcing a couple of community managers as well as tools and infrastructure to help people contribute. I think it's going to be well received," said Kennedy. To assure that the company is also focused on popular interfaces based on Webdav.

When companies like Cleversafe say community, they're not talking about college kids in their pajamas, but customers and potential partnres who are willing to pull up their sleeves and help out in exchange for a seat at the resulting industry's table.

Think of it as creative construction.