What's New in DataCore Puls8 v4.4

This section highlights the new features, capabilities, and major improvements introduced in this release of DataCore Puls8.

The items below summarize what’s newly added:

Introducing the Puls8 Headlamp UI Experience

DataCore Puls8 now includes the DataCore Puls8 Headlamp Plugin, delivering the first UI-based operational experience for Puls8 clusters. With visual dashboards for nodes, volumes, pools, persistent volume claims, snapshots, and storage classes, this integration enables you to manage Puls8 storage resources without relying solely on CLI workflows. Cluster onboarding is streamlined through KubeConfig import, while real-time metrics and guided creation actions provide faster insight, improved operability, and a more accessible management interface.

Streamlined Node Preparation with the Prerequisites Handler

DataCore Puls8 introduces an Automated Prerequisites Handler that prepares Kubernetes nodes for Replicated PV Mayastor io-engine and CSI workloads without manual steps. It automatically configures HugePages, installs and loads required NVMe/NVMe-TCP modules, and sets up RDMA components on supported hosts, improving installation reliability and ensuring consistent node readiness across your cluster.

Simplify Security with Auto-Encrypted DiskPools and KMS Integration

DataCore Puls8 enhances data security with Auto-Encrypted DiskPools backed by Key Management System (KMS) integration. Encryption keys are automatically generated, synchronized, and securely stored in your organization’s KMS through the External Secrets Operator (ESO), eliminating manual key handling and reducing operational risk.

Accelerated Recovery with the New Lifeline Controller

DataCore Puls8 introduces the Lifeline Controller, a Kubernetes-aware failure-handling engine that automatically marks pods as Failed and detaches their volumes when a node remains unresponsive beyond a configurable grace period. This opt-in workflow ensures faster recovery, eliminates dangling VolumeAttachments, and improves storage resilience.

Expand Your Storage

You can now expand existing Replicated PV Mayastor DiskPools by defining a maximum growth limit with the maxExpansion parameter at the time of creation. This feature enables controlled, on-demand capacity increases while preventing ENOSPC errors and ensuring uninterrupted application availability.

Configurable Blobstore Cluster Size

You can now configure the SPDK blobstore cluster size when creating Replicated PV Mayastor DiskPools. This feature allows you to optimize on-disk allocation for specific workloads, improving pool creation and import performance, especially on large-capacity storage devices.

Smarter Maintenance with Cordon and Uncordon Pools

DataCore Puls8 introduces Cordon and Uncordon Pool operations to improve storage control and cluster reliability during maintenance or troubleshooting. This feature allows you to temporarily restrict the creation of new replicas, snapshots, restores, or imports on selected storage pools without disrupting existing workloads.

Snapshot Restore for Local PV LVM

DataCore Puls8 extends its snapshot-based recovery capabilities with Snapshot Restore support for Local PV LVM. Previously available only for Replicated PV Mayastor and Local PV ZFS, this feature now enables you to restore Local PV LVM volumes directly from thin snapshots with full validation of volume group, snapshot size, and provisioning mode.

Application Backup and Restore with Veeam Kasten

DataCore Puls8 now enables snapshot-based backup and restore of Kubernetes applications using Veeam Kasten K10, helping you protect stateful workloads and recover applications and data quickly after failures.