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+===============
+ Intro to Ceph
+===============
+
+Whether you want to provide :term:`Ceph Object Storage` and/or
+:term:`Ceph Block Device` services to :term:`Cloud Platforms`, deploy
+a :term:`Ceph File System` or use Ceph for another purpose, all
+:term:`Ceph Storage Cluster` deployments begin with setting up each
+:term:`Ceph Node`, your network, and the Ceph Storage Cluster. A Ceph
+Storage Cluster requires at least one Ceph Monitor, Ceph Manager, and
+Ceph OSD (Object Storage Daemon). The Ceph Metadata Server is also
+required when running Ceph File System clients.
+
+.. ditaa::
+
+            +---------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +---------------+
+            |      OSDs     | | Monitors   | |  Managers  | |      MDSs     |
+            +---------------+ +------------+ +------------+ +---------------+
+
+- **Monitors**: A :term:`Ceph Monitor` (``ceph-mon``) maintains maps
+  of the cluster state, including the monitor map, manager map, the
+  OSD map, the MDS map, and the CRUSH map.  These maps are critical 
+  cluster state required for Ceph daemons to coordinate with each other.  
+  Monitors are also responsible for managing authentication between 
+  daemons and clients.  At least three monitors are normally required 
+  for redundancy and high availability.
+
+- **Managers**: A :term:`Ceph Manager` daemon (``ceph-mgr``) is
+  responsible for keeping track of runtime metrics and the current
+  state of the Ceph cluster, including storage utilization, current
+  performance metrics, and system load.  The Ceph Manager daemons also
+  host python-based modules to manage and expose Ceph cluster
+  information, including a web-based :ref:`mgr-dashboard` and
+  `REST API`_.  At least two managers are normally required for high
+  availability.
+
+- **Ceph OSDs**: An Object Storage Daemon (:term:`Ceph OSD`,
+  ``ceph-osd``) stores data, handles data replication, recovery,
+  rebalancing, and provides some monitoring information to Ceph
+  Monitors and Managers by checking other Ceph OSD Daemons for a
+  heartbeat. At least three Ceph OSDs are normally required for 
+  redundancy and high availability.
+
+- **MDSs**: A :term:`Ceph Metadata Server` (MDS, ``ceph-mds``) stores
+  metadata on behalf of the :term:`Ceph File System` (i.e., Ceph Block
+  Devices and Ceph Object Storage do not use MDS). Ceph Metadata
+  Servers allow POSIX file system users to execute basic commands (like
+  ``ls``, ``find``, etc.) without placing an enormous burden on the
+  Ceph Storage Cluster.
+
+Ceph stores data as objects within logical storage pools. Using the
+:term:`CRUSH` algorithm, Ceph calculates which placement group (PG) should
+contain the object, and which OSD should store the placement group.  The
+CRUSH algorithm enables the Ceph Storage Cluster to scale, rebalance, and
+recover dynamically.
+
+.. _REST API: ../../mgr/restful
+
+.. raw:: html
+
+	<style type="text/css">div.body h3{margin:5px 0px 0px 0px;}</style>
+	<table cellpadding="10"><colgroup><col width="50%"><col width="50%"></colgroup><tbody valign="top"><tr><td><h3>Recommendations</h3>
+	
+To begin using Ceph in production, you should review our hardware
+recommendations and operating system recommendations. 
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 2
+
+   Hardware Recommendations <hardware-recommendations>
+   OS Recommendations <os-recommendations>
+
+
+.. raw:: html 
+
+	</td><td><h3>Get Involved</h3>
+
+   You can avail yourself of help or contribute documentation, source 
+   code or bugs by getting involved in the Ceph community.
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 2
+
+   get-involved
+   documenting-ceph
+
+.. raw:: html
+
+	</td></tr></tbody></table>