Bridgeworks Launches WANrockIT for AWS

Bridgeworks Ltd. announced WANrockIT for Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Available as an Amazon Machine Image (AMI), this will help organizations further reduce the amount of time it takes to get data to and from the cloud.

The WANrockIT AMI will present in Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) as a locally attached device on the customers’ in-house SAN using iSCSI or FC connectivity. This functionality will enable organizations to move their data directly to the AWS cloud and into S3 via the AWS Storage Gateway as though they were locally attached devices. The AMI provides a simple process for implementing and securing SAN extensions to the cloud for Disk and Tape connectivity.

With WANrockIT, customers can transfer data using their block level SAN protocols – namely FC and iSCSI – transferring it directly into S3 (Disk or VTL) close to the full link speed of the customer’s connection. From the customer’s perspective, IT admins only see a locally attached disk or VTL on their SAN. WANrockIT does not store any data within the product so the data you send is on the AWS cloud as fast as connection speeds allow.

If customers need to get their data back in a hurry, this problem is solved with WANrockIT; it works in both directions at the same speed.

Secure
WANrockIT is data agnostic and does not compress or de-duplicate data. The benefit to the customer is that encrypted or media files are transferred at the same rapid rate. Additionally, IPSEC is also used as a secondary security measure.

Tiered Storage
Organizations wanting to leverage AWS for tiered storage with WANrockIT, can now do so. It moves data at an even more accelerated pace onto AWS storage.

“As the use of cloud increases, so do the data volumes involved,” says Claire Buchanan, chief commercial officer, Bridgeworks. “Getting these volumes of data where they need to be, securely and efficiently, is becoming increasingly critical; getting it right will result in even greater adoption of the cloud.”

He continued: “WANrockIT is the engine that facilitates this speed. Installation is simple and the software does everything else. It is intelligent software, it learns and monitors the network while at the same time managing itself. The solution makes decisions to correctly optimize performance to ensure customers are receiving the best performance possible on the links available.”

“AWS Marketplace is pleased to welcome Bridgeworks WANrockIT to our ecosystem,” said Dave McCann, VP, AWS marketplace, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “With Bridgeworks’ WANrockIT now available in the AWS Marketplace, our customers have another innovative way to move their workloads onto the AWS Cloud, a top priority for our AWS Marketplace customers. Our customers are accelerating the number of projects they move to AWS; Bridgeworks’ WANrockIT’s solution helps that acceleration.”

The WANrockIT AMI is available on demand on an hourly basis. To use the service, WANrockIT needs to be operating at both ends of the connection. An ESX instance is all that is required at the customer end for the transfer of iSCSI data onto AWS and this is included in the AMI hourly charge. Customers looking to transport FC data will require an on-premises appliance to handle data transport onto AWS; this is available to purchase from Bridgeworks separately.