Next Gen Storage Platform – Nasuni with Cloudian HyperStore

Unstructured data is growing at an exponential rate. Traditional NAS systems simply cannot cope or scale to keep up with the influx of data. Hard scalability limits on these traditional systems, combined with the constant need to refresh and replace technologies every 3-5 years is putting additional strains on organizations that are already overstretched. In addition, managing these systems can become problematic as they often lead to multiple data islands, multiple systems, duplicated and redundant data sets, and little visibility and intelligence around the data they are storing.

Solution Overview

Unlike traditional NAS based platforms that have a finite limit on the number of files they support within a hierarchical folder structure, Cloudian® HyperStore®, an enterprise object storage platform can support an unlimited number of objects. A particularly helpful characteristic is a flat structure with each object having its own metadata key thus allowing for unlimited scalability. Furthermore, HyperStore can scale on-demand and is designed for long term retention of data. New storage and platform technologies can be introduced into the environment non-disruptively eliminating the need for painful ‘forklift upgrades’ as technologies become obsolete or reach their end of life. This also eliminates the need for risky data migrations between systems, thus reducing operational and management overhead.

Nasuni, an industry leader in enterprise file services for object storage platforms provides a distributed file platform that integrates both backup and disaster recovery with centralized control. Nasuni Edge Appliances, (hardened, stateless physical or virtual devices) can be deployed at any location that requires file access via their patented object store-based file system, UniFS®. Files are accessible at all locations, on-premise or in the cloud, and with full data protection.

Cloudian and Nasuni Architecture: Solving the complete storage picture

The joint Cloudian and Nasuni solution offers customers a way to overcome the limitations inherent with traditional NAS based solutions by combining a best-in-class global file system in Nasuni UniFS with the industry’s most S3-API compliant, enterprise-grade, object storage platform in Cloudian HyperStore. There are no file size limits, no limits on the number of files, backup versions or capacity, no volume size limits, and full customer-controlled encryption and security for corporate data shares.

Enterprise File Services Platform

The solution of Nasuni and Cloudian integrates via standard RESTful APIs with Nasuni’s UniFS Cloud File System providing enterprise file access to the data stored on Cloudian HyperStore. HyperStore provides long term retention of data, as well as increased data availability and durability. The combination gives customers a scale-out solution that addresses the ever-increasing challenge of data sprawl whilst also addressing data protection, archive, security, and management.

Distributed Operations with Global File Locking

Cloudian HyperStore is a distributed object storage platform where data can be spread across clusters spanning multiple data centers and even geographical regions. Nasuni provides on-premise file access to all data that resides in Cloudian HyperStore that require local access. Nasuni’s’ Global File Locking across sites also eliminates conflicts and protects file integrity.

Data Security

Safeguarding data is not only good practice but also required by regulation in many industries. The solution of Cloudian HyperStore combined with the Nasuni Cloud File System provides extensive security features to deploy and operate a secure storage solution that is FIPS, CFTC 4511, SEC 17 a-4, and Common Criteria compliant or certified.

Security features include:

• Data encryption and transparent key management.
• AES-256 server-side encryption for data stored at rest.
• SSL encryption for data in transit (HTTPS).
• Role-based access controls with specified levels of access.
• Fine-grained storage policies and Audit trail logging.
• WORM (Write Once Read Multiple) for storage of immutable data.
• Extremely short RTO providing near-instant recovery of files due to Ransomware
• Flexible RPO scheduling to meet any file protection requirement

Data Resiliency

The solution provides high data durability with the option to protect and distribute data using replication or erasure coding. Administrators can configure the number of replicas or type of erasure code scheme required to meet SLA and cost objectives. Storage policies also provide fine-grain control of data placement across data centers, taking into consideration factors such as cost efficiency, security levels, and proximity.

Multi-tenancy

The solution allows multiple users on shared infrastructure without compromising security. Granular access control and audit logging capabilities control and logically separate data access. Users can securely access data from the same nodes without impacting operations. Administrators can also control quality of service (QOS) by limiting usage rates and setting quotas on a per-group, per-user basis.

Multi-Cloud Support

The solution allows for tiering of data across on-prem storage and private/public clouds. This allows organizations to cost-effectively combine storage across environments into a single pool, with unified file access, while consolidating storage management enterprise-wide to a single screen. This flexibility is ideal for cloudbursting — a temporary use of more storage resources than usual – or disaster recovery (DR) in the public cloud.

Summary: (the bottom line, what it means to the customer)

The combined solution of Cloudian and Nasuni solves many of today’s storage problems. A few of the benefits are:

• Low cost of ownership and improved ROI
• Extremely high scalability
• High security and compliance
• Unlimited capacity for files, objects, backups, and archive data
• A patented multi-site, global file system with global file locking

As with all storage solutions, customers should seek out the Best-in-Class solution for their specific use case, this includes both a Global File System like Nasuni UniFS paired with the best Object Storage or Cloud, Cloudian.

As an Object Storage system, Cloudian can scale from just three nodes to hundreds, allowing systems to be the right size for any application or organizational need. And Cloudian dramatically reduces enterprise storage costs with up to 95% less management overhead, 30% less power/space/cooling, and a highly robust design that ensures maximum productivity with up to 14 nines of data durability.

As a file system for corporate NAS shares and file systems, Nasuni has no file size limits, no limits on the number of files, backup versions or capacity, and full customer-controlled encryption and security for the corporate data shares, complementing the capabilities of Cloudian.

Have Questions?

For a technical discussion on how Cloudian and Nasuni Cloud File Services can fit your specific requirements, call or contact

Cloudian
Phone: +1 650 227 2380
Contact: https://cloudian.com/contact/

Nasuni
Phone: +1 800 208 3418
Contact: [email protected]