Most organizations today, whether they realize it or not, are already multi-cloud. They may be using one cloud to host cloud-native applications, another cloud to store backups of on-premises data, and using software as a service (SaaS) offerings, which may all be on different clouds. The problem is while organizations are multi-cloud already they don’t have a multi-cloud strategy. Organizations are siloed in their use of multi-cloud. They don’t have a way to move data between clouds seamlessly.
The Importance of a Multi-Cloud Strategy
While cloud providers have a lot in common, each cloud provider has unique capabilities. Some cloud providers excel in video and audio transcriptions, while others excel in artificial intelligence and deep learning, and still others can provide a more cost-effective way to store cold data. Organizations need to be able to easily move data between these providers, without having to update the applications that use that data in its new location.
In addition to moving data between clouds, organizations also need to move data from on-premises object stores to the cloud. On-premises object storage can use cloud storage to store a DR copy or as a long-term archive, limiting the data center footprint of on-premises storage. Organizations may also decide that they’d rather “own” their long-term data storage and once data is no longer used by cloud applications, archive it to on-premises.
Introducing Zenko Multi-Cloud Data Controller
It is crucial that organizations can move data seamlessly from on-premises storage to the cloud and then between clouds. The problem is that most solutions are more migration utilities and don’t provide a globally managed framework by which data can seamlessly move between clouds. Scality’s new Zenko software solution is designed to address the multi-cloud requirement by providing a global data management framework, which it calls its multi-cloud data controller.
Several vendors have come out with a multi-cloud data management solution, but most have delivered these solutions as add-ons to their current storage software, requiring the customer to invest fully in that vendor’s storage solution to realize a benefit from multi-cloud. Scality took a different approach. Instead of requiring the customer to invest in their object storage solution, “RING,” Scality built Zenko from the ground-up to address multi-cloud complexity without forcing vendor lock-in. Their open approach shows Scality’s confidence in RING to compete for storage business on its own.
Zenko provides a single interface to store, manage and search data across many disparate private and public clouds. The solution’s metadata search capability enables IT to find the proverbial needle in the haystack no matter where it is, whether on-premises or in one of several cloud providers. The workflow engine enables organizations to automate data flow throughout the organization based on policy. Example workflows include 1:1 replication, 1 to many replication and lifecycle expirations. Zenko stores all data in the native format to the receiving location; there is no need to convert or transform data manually, nor does the organization need to adopt a proprietary file system throughout the enterprise.
In release 1.0, Zenko supports Scality RING, Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage, Digital Ocean, and Wasabi clouds. Developers can work directly with Zenko via the Amazon S3 API which also means they can use a single API set to manipulate a wide variety of storage systems. Over time, support for additional cloud storage services, object stores and NAS will be introduced into Zenko.
Zenko includes a GUI interface, called Orbit, which provides a hosted management portal for easy point and click management.
StorageSwiss Take
Multi-cloud is a capability that an increasing number of organizations want. The challenge is how to seamlessly move data between those platforms and how to do so in an intelligent, controlled manner. Zenko represents an alternative from other solutions that lock customers into a specific storage system or file system. It provides an open way to manage and take advantage of multi-cloud.
George Crump is the Chief Marketing Officer at VergeIO, the leader in Ultraconverged Infrastructure. Prior to VergeIO he was Chief Product Strategist at StorONE. Before assuming roles with innovative technology vendors, George spent almost 14 years as the founder and lead analyst at Storage Switzerland. In his spare time, he continues to write blogs on Storage Switzerland to educate IT professionals on all aspects of data center storage. He is the primary contributor to Storage Switzerland and is a heavily sought-after public speaker. With over 30 years of experience designing storage solutions for data centers across the US, he has seen the birth of such technologies as RAID, NAS, SAN, Virtualization, Cloud, and Enterprise Flash. Before founding Storage Switzerland, he was CTO at one of the nation's largest storage integrators, where he was in charge of technology testing, integration, and product selection.
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