This week, Network World featured my insight for the “Tech Update” blog on the industry’s growing need for alternative data storage methods. . There is a need more than ever for storing multiple petabytes of data, given more than 90% of all new data created in the next five years will be digital content (video, audio, image objects). These data storage, archive and backup of large numbers of digital content needs are quickly creating demands for multi-petabyte storage systems (equal to thousands of terabytes or millions of gigabytes). This has made enterprises reconsider the traditional method of RAID and replication, for a newer, cost-effective solution within the dispersal approach to storing data.
Take a read on the article as it elaborates on this strategic shift away from parity-based RAID schemes, and emphasizes the benefits dispersal brings to enterprises needing a tightly secure, extremely cost-effective data storage solution – something enterprises should consider today
We are excited to announce that Cleversafe’s co-founder/ CEO, Chris Gladwin has been named a finalist for the 2010 Merrick Momentum Award; the award is to be presented during the Momentum Awards Dinner taking place Thursday, September 23, 2010 at the Fairmont Chicago. Other finalists for the Merrick Momentum Award include Callpod and SitterCity.com.
The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC) Momentum Award, which was introduced in 2008, honors rising entrepreneurial stars in the Chicago area demonstrating small business success since their company’s inception. Past winners have included Eved Services and Savo Group.
The latest Gartner Hype Cycle for Storage Technologies 2010 is yet another indication that cloud storage is taking center stage for enterprises today. The latest hype cycle now includes both cloud storage and cloud-oriented object-based storage – two key focus areas for Cleversafe this year, and we’re proud to be highlighted prominently in the object-based storage section and the section on information dispersal algorithms (IDAs) within the just-released report.
Analyst Pushan Rinnen notes that this is an emerging area on the hype cycle, and CIOs should look towards object-based storage for storing unstructured data in the private cloud. She also notes that users should look for solutions that leverage industry standards to avoid vendor lock-in – and this is a key new enhancement for Cleversafe in our recent 2.1 release, particularly useful for service providers and end-users alike. SNIA’s CDMI initiative, and recently ratified CDMI standard is also a great step towards giving vendors reference frameworks, and Cleversafe is pleased to be a part of this important SNIA initiative.
In terms of IDAs, Valdis Filks notes that this emerging technology, backed by companies like Cleversafe and a few others, has the potential to provide secure storage across both public and private networks instead of other more costly approaches such as encryption. Over the past three years, we’ve built the Cleversafe dispersed storage network to offer the rock-solid security, availability and failover necessary for storing the burgeoning amount of digital data created by organizations today that need to be stored securely, yet available at any time – and it’s an approach that is less costly and more secure than traditional approaches such as replication and RAID.
Today, Cleversafe announces its 2.1 software release which delivers new features to deploy and manage cloud storage. We believe the key enhancements to Cleversafe software underscore the premise of cloud computing
If you look at the premise of cloud computing which include the following :
- Offered as a service. Customers can provision only what they need
- Network enabled. Customers access via the internet or an intranet
- Shared resources. The underlying infrastructure is pooled and may utilize virtualization
- Dynamically scalable. Resources are added as needed, architected for masses
Basically, to deliver on cloud storage as a component of a cloud computing environment, storage needs to be much more dynamically controllable that traditional storage systems. Thus the shift to API based requirements is coming from savvy service providers who want to connect their application and storage systems together to increase operational efficiency.
In order to enable self-service of compute and storage, the application layer needs to be able to control storage provisioning and storage usage metrics. APIs will enable service providers to automatically pull storage usage into their existing billing systems. Storage systems must integrate with authorization and authentication systems to streamline on-boarding users and avoid silos of usernames and passwords. And, monitoring must streamline into existing management systems via SNMP to avoid having to manage the storage separate from the entire stack.
All of these features are simply table stakes for what is required of storage systems to play well with applications, and deliver on the premise – and promise – of cloud computing.
To read more about Cleversafe’s release, as well as how we are announcing a program to offer software licenses on certified hardware, click here.
Chris Gladwin, our founder and CEO, will participate in the panel “Security on the Cloud – more or less secure than behind your firewall?” at the Global Information Infrastructure Commission Annual Meeting held Friday, May 28th. This panel will also include industry leaders from Accenture and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and will be moderated by Michael R. Nelson, Visiting Professor, Internet Studies, Communication, Culture and Technology Program from Georgetown University.
The 2010 annual meeting will focus overall on Internet security, and will also include a keynote address by Vint Cerf from Google, a presentation on critical infrastructure protection from Alan Paller, director of research, SANS Institute, and a second panel discussion on “Internet Protocol – Ensuring a Secure Environment” with industry luminaries from Huawei, Electronic Warfare Associates, and Telcordia Cyber Security, among others. The GIIC aims to be a forum for the development of ideas and actions on key policy issues for the high technology industry, and the annual meeting is an opportunity for government leaders and C-level executives to share ideas and address challenges to the ICT industry.
