Bridgeworks and Spectra Logic Celebrate Deal

UK-based firm Bridgeworks Ltd and Spectra Logic Corporation are celebrating a deal to resell Bridgeworks’ product, PORTrockIT, which uses WAN Acceleration to mitigate the effects of latency and packet loss over Wide Area Networks with AI, ML and data parallelization.

Antony Reynolds, VP, federal and national security business – global channels leader, Bridgeworks, says the companies have been working together since 2005 with an ISCSi to a SCSI bridge for one of Spectra Logic’s compact library products.

He explains: “That was the initial contract, and that ran for a number of years. We now have a new contract with Spectra Logic to provide them with the ability to integrate PORTrockIT into their BlackPearl offerings. BlackPearl is like an object file store. It enhances the functionality and performance over wide area networks. It allows them to carry out DR and to air gap their file storage.“

Long-term relationship
Nathan Thompson, CEO, Spectra Logic, says they have worked together for 20 years. Bridgeworks facilitated the deal, since it already has an in-depth knowledge of BlackPearl. This in part was because BlackPearl’s product manager originally came from Bridgeworks.

Thompson describes Bridgeworks as unique: “Not only in its WAN performance, but in the product’s ability to present a transparent portal for WAN acceleration that works flawlessly with all of Spectra’s data management products.“

He finds that other WAN acceleration products require the use of their own management and transport layers. This forces technical integration, while PORTrockIT offers a simple plug and play solution – making it easier to set up.

New deal: Signed in October 2023
The new deal, signed in October 2023, means that Spectra Logic can resell PORTrockIT, which is included in the BlackPearl product offering.

“For Bridgeworks, it’s an endorsement of our technology and a lot of Spectra Logic’s own tech is in the M&E world – allowing large amounts of data to be moved,” explains Reynolds.

Together, BlackPearl and PORTrockIT offer flexibility and functionality – exactly what the M&E sector requires.

Thompson adds: “Spectra can now offer Bridgeworks’ WAN Acceleration products as part of the overall system sale from Spectra. In many situations, this simplifies not only the acquisition but long-term support and scalability of the solution. Spectra uses RESTful interfaces (S3 and S3-like) to replicate data between physical sites and Bridgeworks offers solutions that seamlessly accelerate that data movement. Spectra has pioneered not only a standalone on-prem-Glacier solution that presents disk and tape as S3 storage, but also a global data coordination system that allows any user access to any stored data, regardless of physical location.“

He says this specifically implies that in some instances, the required data payload is not local to the user.

“In these cases, efficient use of limited network bandwidth is critical and Bridgeworks systems are integral to providing a user experience that rivals accessing local data,” he remarks.

Complementing each other
Thompson explains that the On-Prem-Glacier solution (sometimes marketed as BlackPearl S3), allows both multi-site data replication and sharing and data coordination with public cloud. PORTrockIT permits acceleration in both instances and greatly enhances the overall throughput of an OPG solution. Replicating data to sites on separate continents is both viable and a reasonable user experience.

So, how do Spectra Logic and Bridgeworks complement each other?
Spectra Logic has been in the storage business for over 40 years, with an extended focus on data management in the last decade. Bridgeworks also has knowledge, experience and expertise in storage and in networking.

Thompson explains: “Multi-site data management has the need to inherently move and manage data over public or extended private networks – Bridgeworks is specifically in the business of getting the most out of your WAN connection – both points to point and point to cloud. So, we complement each other perfectly.“

Obfuscating cyber-attackers
With cyber-security increasingly raising concerns, Reynolds concludes that as organisations continue to put in place protection mechanisms to protect themselves vs. cyber-attacks, Bridgeworks hopes they will realise the benefits of WAN Acceleration as a mean of obfuscating the attackers. This can be achieved by sending encrypted data over WANs, and by accelerating it to the point where attackers cannot divert it. With Bridgeworks, Spectra Logic has an eye on ensuring stringent levels of cyber-security, which a combination of PORTrockIT and BlackPearl can achieve.