2024-25 Top 5 Mid-Range Hybrid Cloud Storage Solutions

Published on September 19, 2024, this market report was written by Jerome M. Wendt, president and lead analyst of Data Center Intelligence Group LLC (DCIG).

DCIG 2024-25 Top 5 mid-range Hybrid Cloud Storage Solutions

DCIG is announced the availability of the its 2024-25 Top 5 mid-range Hybrid Cloud Storage Solutions Global Edition Report. This report provides guidance to organizations looking for a mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution. It specifically focuses on mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions that both tier data to cloud storage platforms and provide a SDS option.

Hybrid cloud capabilities now must have feature
On-premises, cloud, or hybrid cloud? That’s a question few organizations ponder any longer as they acquire new enterprise technologies. Rather, most oft them already know the answer to it. They expect new enterprise technologies they acquire to possess hybrid cloud capabilities.

Corporate strategies drive this mindset to acquire enterprise technologies that possess hybrid cloud capabilities. Over 80 % of organizations have a hybrid cloud strategy with about 90% using both on-premises and cloud services. Further, IT leaders often view hybrid cloud functionality as critical to future success as this feature facilitates corporate digital transformation initiatives.

However, in the quest to choose enterprise technologies that possess hybrid cloud capabilities, organizations must exercise caution. They cannot and should not assume hybrid cloud capabilities constitute a simple check box item on any product feature list.

The ways in which providers deliver and support hybrid cloud functionality in their products can and do differ. Nowhere can one observe these differences more than in mid-range storage solutions that possess hybrid cloud capabilities.

At least 2 levels of mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions exist. Using hybrid cloud technology, a level 1 mid-range storage solution can minimally store data on-premises, in the cloud, or both.

It also offers various techniques and technologies to manage data placement. These may include default and user-defined policies, AI/M, storing data in different clouds, or a combination of these.

This report only examined level 2 mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions. All these mid-range storage solutions also offer the flexibility to more freely host and move applications between on-premises and the cloud.

To facilitate this movement, the level 2 mid-range storage solution provider must offer SDS. This feature permits the use of the mid-range storage solution’s other data services such as replication and snapshots in the cloud. Organizations may then often manage the mid-range storage solution in a similar manner both in the cloud and on-premises.

State of mid-range hybrid cloud stoage solutions: 3 configurations
Organizations may obtain level 2 mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions from multiple storage providers in one of the following configurations.

Configuration #1 – Sole Hardware Provider.
In this configuration, a hardware provider delivers both the mid-range array’s hardware and its SDS feature. This configuration represents how most providers deliver their mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution.

For the on-premises component, the hardware provider delivers its own mid-range storage hardware. For the cloud component, the hardware provider decouples its storage OS from the hardware and delivers it as SDS.

This configuration minimally benefits organizations in the following 2 ways.

First, organizations may manage both their on-premises and storage mid-range hybrid cloud deployments in the same way. This can extend to using a centralized management console to manage both the on-premises and cloud deployments.

Second, a single provider delivers all the hardware and software support whether deployed on-premises or in the cloud. This eliminates the finger-pointing that can occur when using hardware and software from different providers.

In this configuration, organizations should keep the following in mind. The hardware provider delivers both the hardware and software. It will likely own, maintain, and deliver storage software. However, the provider likely does not manufacture the underlying mid-range stor¬age solution hardware components. It will often rely upon a third party to manufacture them.

Configuration #2 – Hardware/Software Provider Partnership.
In this configuration, a software SDS provider partners with a hardware provider to deliver a pre-integrated mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution. Delivering in this manner positions both providers to focus on their respective core hardware and software competencies.

This hardware/software provider configuration option results in a flexible, feature-rich mix of hardware and software. On the hardware side, DCIG observes that these mid-range solutions offer high levels of storage capacity density and power efficiency. On the software side, the providers better optimize their solution to run on multiple hardware platforms and in multiple clouds.

The primary issue that may surface here concerns technical support for this configuration. Should a technical support issue arise, an organization must clarify which provider will own the issue through problem resolution.

Configuration #3 – Hardware/Hardware Provider Partnership.
The hardware/hardware provider partnership represents the latest mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution configuration to emerge. In this configuration, a hardware provider makes its SDS available on another hardware provider’s platform.

Hardware providers possess at least two motivations to pursue this option. First, some of them do not have a significant market presence or face barriers in entering certain countries. By delivering their SDS on another hardware provider’s platform that does operate in those countries, they may enter them.

Second, some organizations already have long-standing relationships with specific hardware providers. In these instances, they want to continue to use the hardware from their current provider. However, they want to use the other hardware provider’s SDS. This hardware/hardware provider partnership enables organizations to get both the hardware and software they want.

Since this represents a newer configuration, the same concerns may surface here as with the software/hardware provider partnership. Should a technical support issue arise, an organization must clarify which provider will own the issue through problem resolution.

Most evaluated mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions fall under the sole hardware provider configuration. However, DCIG gave a Top 5 award to at least one mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution from each configuration.

2024-25 DCIG Top 5 mid-range hybrid cloud storage solitions – global editon
In preparing this report, DCIG evaluated over 45 different mid-range storage solutions of which 12 met firm’s inclusion criteria for a mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution. The general categories under which the features of these mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions fell included:

• Data protection and cyber resilience.
• Deployment options.
• Licensing and pricing.
• Product and performance management.
• Software options.
• Storage optimization.
• Technical support.

Based on these criteria, DCIG awarded the following mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions a top 5 ranking in this report:

• Hitachi Vantara VSP One Block
• IBM Storage FlashSystem 9500
• Lenovo ThinkSystem DM7100 AFA
• NetApp AFF A400
• StorONE S1/Seagate Exos AP 5U84

Common features across all mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions
The 12 evaluated mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions share the following core features:

• Provider-branded, pre-integrated storage appliance. Each provider makes its on-premises mid-range storage solution available as a pre-integrated storage appliance. The appliance arrives at an organization’s site with all hardware and software components pre-installed, configured, and ready for deployment. An organization often still needs to provide power, floor space, networking, and baseline configurations for deploying the solution into its environment.
• SDS option for deployment in general-purpose clouds. Each solution provides organizations with an SDS option to deploy in one or more general-purpose clouds. Examples of general-purpose cloud providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure, among others. They minimally offer cloud services such as computing, networking, and storage to which organizations may subscribe. The SDS option typically consists of a virtual appliance that gets deployed in a cloud. It then uses the cloud’s computing, network, and storage services to present a storage interface like its on-premises appliance.
• At least 2 storage controllers. Each mid-range storage solution’s support of at least two storage controllers supports its deployment as a highly available solution. Supporting at least two controllers also represents the minimum number required for DCIG to classify a mid-range array as “enterprise.” However, most mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions now offer scale-out configurations and support more than two controllers.
• In-place controller upgrades and replacements. The support of at least 2 controllers ensures uninterrupted access to the mid-range hybrid cloud solution during routine maintenance. Routine maintenance typically includes regularly scheduled controller software upgrades as well as possible replacements.
• All-inclusive software licensing. Each provider offers an all-inclusive software licensing option for its mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution. Organizations should note that the exact features and number of features included in such a license will vary by provider.
• Scale to at least 500TB of raw storage capacity and 256GB of DRAM. Supporting high levels of storage capacity and DRAM has now become commonplace among mid-range storage solutions. Many now support storage and DRAM capacities that far exceed the 500TB and 256GB baselines referenced here.
• Periodic asynchronous replication. Replication in some form becomes a requirement to support the failover of workloads from on-premises to the cloud and back again. Each of these solutions offers periodic asynchronous replication. Using this technology, each solution queues up writes on the primary system for a time (1-15 mn) At the end of that period, it then replicates the accumulated writes to the secondary system.
• Two data center (2DC) asynchronous. 2DC asynchronous replication offers the same baseline functionality as periodic asynchronous replication. The main difference is that either of the mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions may function as both the primary and secondary system in a replication pair. Further, each mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution in this replication pair may perform both functions at the same time.
• Management REST API. Supporting a management REST API provides a means for third-party software solutions to manage a mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution. Each mid-range hybrid cloud storage solution offers such a management REST API for this purpose. However, organizations must still verify which, if any, third-party management software solutions support and manage specific mid-range storage solutions.
• Technical support via email. Every provider of mid-range hybrid cloud storage solutions offers multiple means of providing technical support, of which email is one. However, obtaining technical support using email represents the only technical support option that they all share.
• 24x7x365 availability of technical support staff. Each provider makes its technical support available around the clock every day of the year.
• 4-hour response time of technical support staff. While all providers make their technical support available around the clock, they all only guarantee 4-hour response times.