HOUSTON COMMAND CENTER
- Open Source Storage Administration
- Continuous Evolution
- Tightly Integrated with 45Drives Hardware
Houston User Interface: Seamless Server Management
Command Line Interface
- Powerful
- Control & Flexibility
- Steep Learning Curve
- Consistent Use to Maintain Skills
- Prone to Human Error
Graphical User Interfaces
- Easy to Navigate
- Low Bar of Entry
- Low risk of Input Mistakes
- Limited Advanced Functionality
- Low Command Line Integration
- Not Hardware Specific
Houston UI Advantage
- Intuitive Open-Source Interface
- Seamlessly Syncs with the Command Line
- Single Dashboard for Storage + Server Health
- Built for 45Drives Hardware
- No Vendor Lock-In
Managing storage infrastructure can feel overwhelming, especially without deep command-line expertise. Complex configurations, the risk of errors, and time-consuming workflows can all get in the way of efficiency.
While the command line offers powerful control and flexibility, it comes with a steep learning curve and takes regular use to stay well-versed. Many open-source tools provide GUI alternatives are easier to navigate, but fall short when it comes to seamless integration with command-line workflows, making it challenging to manage files, blocks, and objects effectively.
Imagine having the best of both worlds—a user-friendly, open-source platform that stays perfectly in sync with the command line.
Enter Houston UI, a powerful server administration system that has the simplicity of a graphical interface while playing well with the command line. What also sets Houston UI apart is its seamless integration with 45Drives servers, making it easy to monitor your servers and manage drives—all from one intuitive dashboard.
Non-Proprietary
Free from vendor lock-in
45Drives Hardware Integration
Seamless compatibility with hardware insights for optimal performance
Single Pane of Glass
Single point of view for streamlined system management
Task Scheduler
Automate tasks like snapshots, backups, scrubbing, and more
Diagnose Network Issues
View from Houston UI
Regular Updates
Stays current with the latest module additions and improvements
OpenZFS
Easy Setup & administration of ZFS Storage
Integrated File Navigation
Browse and manage files easily through a built-in, user-friendly interface
Virtual Machines
Type 2 Hypervisor functionality
Secure Log in
2 Factor Authentication
Houston UI: Tightly Integrated with Your Storage Hardware
Houston UI works directly with your 45Drives storage server, offering a simple and easy-to-use alternative to complicated command-line tools. Its tight integration with hardware makes even advanced setups straightforward, so you can optimize your storage system without needing specialized technical skills.
With Houston UI, you can handle tasks like assigning disks, creating storage pools, and fine-tuning performance—all from one central dashboard. Important details like disk health, performance metrics, and storage usage are clearly displayed, making it easy to keep your system running at its best.
Web-Based ZFS Control Through Houston UI
Houston UI makes managing ZFS simple and accessible through a clean, web-based interface. Users can easily create or import ZFS pools, view their health, and manage redundancy across drives. The interface supports creating datasets and volumes with options like compression, deduplication, and quotas—all without needing the command line.
Snapshots can be created, rolled back, or cloned directly in the UI, helping to protect against accidental or malicious data deletion. Houston also helps safeguard against hardware failure by enabling redundancy configurations and drive monitoring. Setting up snapshot-based replication between systems is straightforward, and users can easily schedule scrubs, replace failed drives, and stay on top of storage health. It’s a practical, user-friendly way to manage ZFS.
Check out these videos from 45Drives to learn more.
Simplify Automation with the Houston Task Scheduler
From years of working with enterprise environments, we've learned that data loss often stems from deletion, corruption, and disasters. The best defense against these risks is to follow best practices such as scheduling regular snapshots, data scrubs, and backups to a secure repository. Houston’s Task Scheduler module makes this easy by allowing users to schedule these tasks through a simple, calendar-based interface.
Tasks that can be scheduled include:
- Snapshots
- Data scrubs
- Backups to the cloud
- Backups to a private server
The scheduler features intelligent resource management, dynamically allocating system resources based on current load and task priority to maintain performance and stability. Each task runs in isolation to prevent conflicts, with built-in automatic retries in case of failure. Users can manage task priorities to throttle or elevate operations as needed, ensuring flexibility and control. All activity is logged in detail, providing full transparency and traceability.
Whether you're automating routine maintenance, managing backup workflows, or streamlining operational processes, the Task Scheduler is built to handle it all efficiently and reliably.
Explore these videos from 45Drives to learn more.
Visual File Navigator
System administrators frequently manage files that are intentionally kept offline or isolated from the network for security purposes. On Linux servers, accessing and modifying these files often requires proficiency with the command line. While traditional operating systems provide user-friendly file navigation interfaces, they are typically tied to proprietary platforms with their own limitations. The 45Drives Navigator Module in Houston addresses this challenge by offering a graphical, point-and-click interface that brings intuitive file management to the open-source ZFS file system.
From this interface, users can browse the entire filesystem, create, delete, and rename files, edit file contents as well as ownership and permissions, create symbolic links to files and directories, reorganize files using cut, copy, and paste functions, and upload files through a simple drag-and-drop mechanism.
Drive Bay Module
This feature provides an exact match for the 45Drives server model, allowing users to see drives as they are physically inserted in the server. It offers a clear view of the vdev and zpool configuration of all drives, making it easy to understand the current storage layout.
In the event of a drive failure, the system enables users to quickly identify the affected drive’s physical location within the server, simplifying and speeding up the replacement process.
Motherboard Module
Get a complete, real-time view of your system that matches your server’s exact motherboard model. Instantly identify which PCIe slots are in use and which are available, with no guesswork or manual tracing. Access detailed diagnostics on your server’s electronics, including usage statistics, temperature readings, and overall hardware health, so you can catch potential issues early and keep everything running at peak performance.
With Houston, you can do all of this remotely—no need to open up your server or rely on multiple tools. Everything you need for system monitoring and management is available through a single, streamlined browser-based interface.
Managing Virtual Machines with Houston UI
With many hypervisors, managing virtual machines separately from the user interface creates unnecessary complexity and delays.
Houston UI solves this by offering a seamless, all-in-one experience for managing virtual machines directly from a simple, browser-based interface. Built on KVM, it empowers you to set up and control VMs without touching the command line.
With Houston, you can:
- Quickly spin up new virtual machines in just a few clicks
- Allocate CPU, memory, and storage as needed
- Manage snapshots, networking, and disk images
- Start, stop, clone, or remove VMs anytime
- Monitor resource usage and performance at a glance
Whether you're running multiple operating systems, testing environments, or isolating workloads, Houston brings everything together in one place—so you can focus on your work, not the setup.
Step-by-Step Video Tutorials & Knowledge Base
Over the past few years, Houston UI has rolled out several powerful updates, including new features and modules such as ZFS and iSCSI support. These additions give administrators greater flexibility and control over their storage environments.
To dive deeper into these updates, check out our YouTube channel for step-by-step video guides, or explore our Knowledge Base for in-depth documentation.
The Industry's Best Support
45Drives is your single point of accountability for open-source solutions, proudly supported from both the United States and Canada. Our North American-based team provides end-to-end expertise in hardware, software, networking, and application interfaces. We offer a wide range of support packages—from basic hardware troubleshooting to fully managed, white-glove service with 24/7 emergency response. Whether you're in the planning phase, deep into deployment, or maintaining operations long term, our dual-country support presence ensures your success every step of the way.
Learn More