Nasuni Adds Multi-Site Access

Nasuni Corp. announced the addition of multi-site access to its Data Continuity Services.

Multi-site allows organizations with several locations to work on a single set of shared data. The new capabilities extend Nasuni’s file-level snapshots to create a a controller architecture that allows multiple storage controllers to have live access to the same volume of snapshots. Organizations benefit by having a simple, safe and secure way to share data across any number of sites. Multi-site access is available to all Data Continuity subscribers.

"We have begun to deploy Nasuni in our offices around the world and initial testing indicates we can expect top local performance. The overall experience has been a positive one thus far," said Jim Sokoloff VP of Technology for Vistaprint.
 
To enable this capability, customers need to deploy either the Nasuni virtual appliance (downloadable and available for a free evaluation – you need to register -) or one of Nasuni’s new hardware options at each site, which enables them to access Nasuni’s Data Continuity Services. Thin-provisioning allows the local storage footprint of each of the appliances to be smaller than that of the complete set of data being shared through the services. At highly frequent, regular intervals, the Nasuni services capture an encrypted snapshot of the entire file system, while the most commonly accessed files are stored locally to provide performance. At any time, end users can roll back to an earlier version of a file, directory or the complete file system altogether eliminating the need for additional backups.
 
Nasuni’s multi-site access opens up possibilities
for end users, some of which include:

• Secure data distribution to remote office/branch office (ROBO): If the central office needs to distribute marketing or training videos to local sales offices, for example, all one needs to do is save the file to Nasuni. Once the data is part of Nasuni’s services, ROBO’s throughout the world enjoy read-only access. It and eliminates the need to make multiple copies or send data large files via email.
• Remote offices forwarding data to a central point: In this case, Nasuni makes it simple for remote sites such as point of sale locations or remote development offices to send information to headquarters. Data Continuity means that files created or changed in the remote offices are automatically made available at headquarters without the need for expensive, array-based point-to-point replication solutions or WAN acceleration.
• Two way synchronized read-write: Workers who move from office to office can now ensure that they have fast access to local data without having to store it on their hard drive or to set up a VPN that spans an ocean to link up with a file server. Permissions can be set so that only the individual user has access to his or her files. It is also possible for multiple users to read and write to the same file, and with Nasuni’s snapshotting process, it’s always possible to roll back to an earlier version of a file regardless of where that version was made.

"With offices in all corners of the country and different data at each, we have been striving to make all that data uniformly accessible to everyone, no matter where they were," said Tim Nottoli, Director of IT for Walsh Construction. "Other solutions were plagued with technical shortcomings and complexity. The Nasuni solution works well and it was amazingly simple to configure."
 
"This could be game changing," said Terri McClure, Senior Analyst at ESG. "Being able to decouple logical volumes allowing for many controllers to have simultaneous access to the same data set and yet maintain data consistency opens a whole new model for branch office support and disaster recovery. Being able to stream file changes from multiple locations and having those changes automatically consolidated into a single snapshot history makes for a safe, cost effective and practical way to handle data protection and distribution."
 
Multi-site access comes with the same features users
have come to depend on from Nasuni, including:

• SLA: Nasuni guarantees 100 percent uptime, with significant penalties if the services are unavailable even for just a few minutes.
• Ironclad Data Protection: Accessible and available 100 percent of the time. Nasuni’s demanding partner selection process for raw cloud storage and its intelligent caching, file system snapshots and proactive issue resolution enable Nasuni to guarantee that customers will always have access to their data, 100 percent of the time.
• Secure: Nasuni encrypts all data prior to forwarding it to the cloud using AES-256 encryption.
• Disaster recovery at the click of a button: From accidentally deleted files to the loss of an entire file system, complete recovery is never more than a mouse click and a few minutes away.
• Performance on par with a local storage controller: Nasuni keeps the most frequently accessed files readily available on-site, and data stored with the Service looks just like a local storage. End-users never need know the difference.

"Multi-site does away with cumbersome replication schemes and frustr Satingly slow WAN optimizers" said Andres Rodriguez, CEO of Nasuni. "This is an engineering milestone. The combination of two new technologies – one, a file system that consolidates data from multiple locations into a single snapshot stream, and, two, an encryption scheme that secures all data on customers’ premises – this combination unlocks the full potential of file-level snapshots to global organizations."