DuraSpace Launches Open-Source Cloud Service

DuraSpace, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving the world’s scholarly, scientific and cultural records, announced its managed cloud service, DuraCloud.

A managed software service that lets organizations archive content across more than one cloud provider, DuraCloud ensures that documents, imagery and videos are always accessible. A number of the country’s institutions including MIT, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and Rice University have signed up to use the managed cloud service to preserve digital resources.

"DuraCloud is the breakthrough many of us have been waiting for," said Bryan Beecher of The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). "The ability to store and update material on three different cloud providers – using just one web-based dashboard to manage it all – saves hours of work and makes the entire process much less expensive to manage."

Archiving digital libraries and research output
for academic institutions, museums,
and other knowledge stewards, DuraCloud offers:

• Replication and synchronization of content across multiple cloud providers through one unified interface
• Access to a suite of applications embedded in the DuraCloud platform to do more with data
• Data distribution and streaming to any internet-linked device
• Secure storage of digital archives and periodic content ‘health checks’ assuring information is being preserved as it should be
• A simple and powerful dashboard to manage all content across the cloud
• An open-source community dedicated to on-going technological development, along with support assistance to ease the transition into the cloud

"The key benefit of the cloud is the flexibility and scalability offered instantly as a service. As the amount of digital content amasses in our academic and research organizations, the cloud can play a significant role in helping to persist this information for future generations," commented Michele Kimpton, CEO of DuraSpace. "With DuraCloud our customers can use one or all of the cloud storage providers and still manage all of the content from one web interface keeping costs down, content preserved and accessibility guaranteed."

Funded in part by the Library of Congress through its National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), DuraSpace is committed to the open-source community and the technological advancement of the cloud. Current open-source projects include DSpace and Fedora.

DuraCloud is a free open-source project and fee-based subscription service, and is available to any organization wishing to archive and preserve their content using the cloud, without locking into one single cloud provider.