CLYSO was founded in Munich in 2010 with the conviction that open source and cloud should give organizations more freedom, not more complexity. Today we work as a global team across more than ten countries on Ceph, object storage, secure design, cloud‑native technologies, and distributed systems for mission‑critical workloads.
Driven by Engineering Excellence
What We Do
We design, build, and operate scalable storage platforms based on Ceph and S3 for enterprises, public institutions, and research organizations.
From architecture and deployment to training and long‑term support, we focus on robust systems and architectures built to last.
Why it matters
For our customers, storage is not a side note but critical infrastructure for data, research, and digital services.
We help them operate open technologies safely, preserve data sovereignty, and avoid vendor lock‑in – with platforms they can rely on for the long term.
Our Role in the Ceph Ecosystem
The people who support your storage at CLYSO are deeply embedded in the global Ceph project. We are represented in Ceph governance bodies and contribute directly to the design, performance, and stability of the software you run.
Ceph leadership
CLYSO is represented in the Ceph Executive Council and Ceph Foundation boards, helping to guide the direction of the project and ensure enterprise needs are heard. See the official Ceph Foundation members list for details.
Community stewardship
Our team organizes and speaks at events such as Ceph Days, Cephalocon, and KubeCon, and contributes code, performance improvements, and best practices back to the community. See the official Ceph Days Berlin 2025 event page for an example of our involvement.
Open, verifiable work
Our engineers publish talks, benchmarks, and tools that are publicly visible and measurable – from performance deep dives to open-source utilities.
Why Organizations Work With CLYSO
From Enterprise IT to Research & Public Sector
Enterprises, universities, and service providers choose CLYSO when storage is critical infrastructure, not just a line item in the budget, especially for large-scale object storage and Ceph-based data platforms. We focus on independence, operational safety, and long-term sovereignty over your data.
Strategic independence
We build on open technologies to help you avoid classic vendor lock‑in.
Operational safety
Our solutions turn open‑source storage into a predictable, auditable enterprise system.
Deep experience
Our team has designed and operated multi‑petabyte clusters for the most demanding environments in science and industry.
How We Work
From Munich to the World
CLYSO is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, and works with customers worldwide through a globally distributed team of engineers and architects. We combine German engineering roots with a collaborative, hands‑on way of working.
Global engineering team
Our engineers and architects are based in more than ten countries and bring experience from research institutions, universities, cloud providers, and global open-source communities. We operate as one virtual team, close to customers and close to the Ceph community.
Advisory & design
We start with strategy and architecture: clarifying requirements, assessing existing platforms, and designing Ceph and S3 storage architectures that fit your workloads and compliance needs. Data sovereignty and long-term maintainability are always part of the discussion, not an afterthought.
Implementation & enablement
We design, deploy, and modernize storage platforms for object, block, and file, and work alongside your teams during migrations and operations. With tailored support and training, you get direct access to senior engineers and build your own in-house expertise instead of relying on generic “handbook” support.
Global Ambassadors & Architecture Team
Joachim Kraftmayer – Founder & CEO, Ceph DACH Ambassador
Founded CLYSO in 2010 after seeing how much potential open source and cloud had to give organizations more freedom over their data.
Represents European enterprises and public institutions in the Ceph ecosystem.
Dan van der Ster – CTO, Ceph Executive Council Member
Former CERN architect for multi‑petabyte Ceph and S3 object storage for the LHC.
Leads CLYSO’s technical strategy and helps govern the global Ceph project.
Mark Nelson – Head of R&D, Ceph Performance Lead
Long‑time core Ceph engineer and former Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat.
Drives performance R&D and led the community journey to 1 TiB/s with Ceph.
Frédéric Nass – Ceph Engineer & Ambassador (France)
Built and ran a 4 PB Ceph cluster and modern cloud platforms in French higher education.
Advises CLYSO customers on large‑scale Ceph, Kubernetes, and data center modernization.
Deepika Upadhyay – Ceph Engineer & Ambassador (India)
Core contributor to Ceph and Rook with a focus on observability and distributed tracing.
Supports customers and community users in gaining deep insight into complex storage systems.
Joshua Blanch – Ceph Engineer & Ambassador (Canada)
Senior Ceph engineer helping customers in North America design, deploy, and operate Ceph-based storage platforms for demanding workloads.
Ceph Ambassador for Canada, connecting user requirements from the region with the global Ceph community and CLYSO’s engineering teams.
Frequently Asked Questions about CLYSO
These are the questions we are most often asked about our Company
What kind of company is CLYSO?
CLYSO is a specialized storage engineering company focused on enterprise Ceph storage and S3 object storage. We turn these technologies into platforms that keep your data and decisions under your control while driving your business processes forward.
Do you only work with Ceph?
Ceph is at the core of what we do, but our work spans the broader open storage ecosystem, including S3‑compatible platforms, Kubernetes‑based environments, and data migration and management tools. Many projects combine Ceph with other technologies rather than relying on a single stack.
Who typically works with CLYSO?
We support enterprise IT organizations, public sector and government, healthcare providers, service providers, and universities and research institutions that rely on large‑scale, mission‑critical data. Customers come to us when they need both open‑source flexibility and enterprise‑grade reliability.
How does CLYSO think about “vendor lock‑in”?
We build on open, widely adopted technologies and non‑proprietary data formats so that you keep maximum freedom of choice. Our goal is to make you less dependent on any single vendor – including us – by combining products, services, and enablement.
Are your solutions cloud, on‑premises, or hybrid?
We work with customers across different infrastructure models, including classic on‑premises data centers and cloud‑centric or hybrid environments. In each case, the common denominator is software‑defined, S3‑compatible storage that can scale and evolve with your needs.
What is the first step if we want to explore working with CLYSO?
Most organizations start with a conversation about goals and constraints, followed by a focused workshop or architecture assessment. From there, we jointly define storage architecture options, potential migration paths (for Ceph or S3), and the right level of ongoing support.
We are active members of
CLYSO - Enterprise Storage Platforms, engineered by Ceph architects.
Turn your data into your strongest asset, with open-source flexibility. Scalable, secure, and built for the future.