Coraid and Big Switch  have partnered up to deliver an integrated networked storage solution that brings together the best of both worlds:  cloud orchestration and open-source network abstraction.

“The modern datacenter is going through the biggest transformation it has seen in more than a decade,” said Kevin Brown, CEO of Coraid. “Datacenter architects today are taking a fundamentally different approach to building infrastructure, one that combines scale-out commodity hardware, pooling and abstraction through software, and the ability to programmatically control every aspect of the infrastructure. This is the software-defined datacenter, combining the best elements of cloud self-service and enterprise capabilities.”

The new offering will be based on Coraid’s EtherCloud, a scale-out storage platform built around technology the company gained through the acquisition of Yunteq in 2011.  The core policy engine is bundled up with REST APIs to create a package that automates provisioning.

Big Switch is fulfilling its end of the bargin by throwing Big Network Controller into the mix, an SDN OS that allows for the creation of a single logical layer on hardware from different vendors.

By integrating their respective solutions, the two firms are aiming to create an offering that will make storage and networking manageable programmatically from a single hub. From the CIO perspective, this combo not only reduces complexity but also saves a lot of resources that would otherwise be spent on propriety hardware and software.

Storage is playing an increasingly important role in the software-defined world of networking, some calling it the missing link.  That’s one reason Coraid is picking up a lot of momentum, but Big Switch Networks is the one that’s really making a splash. The company exited stealth only a couple weeks ago with $40 million in the bank courtesy of Goldman Sachs and several several other VCs, touting an entire line-up of open, software-driven networking solutions.