Panzura Announces Next-Gen Smart Sync Technology

Panzura, Inc. announced its patent-pending SMART Sync technology that is included in the company’s hybrid cloud software.

SMART Sync builds on firm’s existing global deduplication and global metadata technology, and provides the fastest way to move files between sites by transferring the least amount of data possible. As a result, companies can accelerate cross-site real-time collaboration, allowing them to get products to market faster, and complete projects on time and on budget.

Most data synchronization protocols, such as rsync, were designed twenty years ago and built for site-to-site data replication. In a multi-site and cloud solution, site-to-site protocols can create performance issues. Files need to be scanned twice at each point to compare differentials before they can be synced. Some highly technical CAD, BIM or GIS applications won’t work correctly if multiple users work on the same project collaboratively from different offices. Nonetheless, most replication and cloud NAS solutions continue to use outdated sync protocols.

Company’s global deduplication technology already enables customers to reduce large file global distribution times from more than 10 hours to less than 10 minutes. SMART Sync builds on top of this global deduplication and uses metadata tables on Panzura Controllers to compare files without having to run scans on the source or the destination. Firm’s software already knows what data blocks have been modified and only moves the unique blocks that are not already at the destination. In many cases, only a small amount of metadata is moved instead of moving the actual data blocks. As a result, there is no rsync-like delay when users access files across sites and transfer time remains constant regardless of the file size. This also reduces network congestion and cloud egress charges, a data transfer fee most cloud providers assess for downloading data.

“We developed Panzura patent-pending SMART Sync because the existing sync protocols both created system overhead and led to data sync failures. None of them could meet our customers’ needs,” said John Taylor, CTO, Panzura. “Together with Panzura’s Global File System, we’re able to minimize data movement, network traffic, and system overhead.“

“Cross-office collaboration between 27 locations with applications such as Autodesk Revit was made possible through using a Panzura Global File System. SMART Sync makes that cross-office collaboration even better especially when teams in different offices are working in real-time,” said Andy Knauf, VP, IT, Mead and Hunt. “Not only has SMART Sync increased our ability to rapidly work on projects across offices, but it has also reduced the amount of traffic over our networks during that collaboration.“

SMART Sync is available and is included as part of the firm’s software.

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