IBM Brings Object-Based Storage Services to Cloud

IBM Corp. announced object-based cloud storage services to help clients manage their growing volumes of unstructured data.

This Cloud Object Storage will combine technology from the recently acquired object storage company, Cleversafe, Inc., with the IBM Cloud to provide enterprises with fast, flexible, hybrid cloud storage-as-a-service solutions.

IDC estimates that 80% of cloud applications are predicted to be big-data intensive. Cleversafe object storage technology enables data-intensive clients to scale to exabytes of storage, or billions of gigabytes.

With the Cloud Object Storage services, the company will provide enterprises a choice of multiple APIs and the option to store this massive amounts of data efficiently on-premise, on the IBM Cloud, or across the two in hybrid environment, with the same level of reliability and consistency of technology across all deployment models.

“One of the biggest challenges enterprises face today is the massive growth of data, fueled by cloud, mobile, IoT, analytics, social media, cognitive and other technologies organizations eagerly employ to transform their business and engage customers,” said John Morris, CEO, Cleversafe, an IBM company. “By bringing Cleversafe technology to the cloud with these services, we will empower clients with the choice and flexibility needed to better balance storage cost, location, and compliance control requirements across their data sets and essential applications.“

Object Storage Delivered as a Service or a System
The company plans to make the Cloud Object Storage services available in the second quarter in three configurations: Nearline, Standard, and Dedicated.

• Nearline will provide a cloud infrastructure for infrequently accessed data at a lower cost than most off-premise options. It is for archive, backup, and other workloads delivered across select IBM cloud data centers.

• Standard will provide a higher performance public cloud offering based on proven Cleversafe technology with S3 API interfaces. This service is  for a wide range of high performance applications written to use the S3 object storage API.

• Dedicated will provide a single-tenant firm’ Object Storage system running on dedicated servers in company’s cloud data centers. Available as an company’s managed service or as a self-managed cloud solution, this approach will give clients access to object storage with no need for extra hardware or data center space.

These services will be able to interact with existing Cleversafe systems. On-premise systems can serve as a standalone storage solution or be combined with the Cloud Object Storage services to support hybrid cloud needs. This on-premise technology supports clients with hundreds of petabytes of storage in production and is relied upon by customers including the University of Chicago and Hogarth Worldwide.

Flexible licensing
To ensure enterprises are able to select the right hybrid cloud object storage solution for their business and customer needs, Cloud Object Storage will be available in a variety of licensing models, including perpetual, subscription, or consumption. With such diverse licensing options, customers will be able to buy storage capacity with the flexibility to move data between the enterprise and the cloud as business needs change.

“With an expanded object storage as a service offering, we anticipate a new level of flexibility and choice, giving us added confidence knowing we can flex as our business and industry demands it,” said Mark Keller, principal solutions and enterprise architect, Coretech, a WPP Plc. company. “This is increasingly important. As technology and our businesses continue to develop, we’re storing more rich assets than ever before.“

Further adding to the solution’s flexibility, Cloud Object Storage will support both file and object workloads, enabling enterprises to deploy a single storage hub that supports storage needs for traditional and web-based applications. Data can be read and written using an object interface, Swift or S3, and other major interface, including NFS and SMB. These solutions will provide a means for traditional applications to integrate with firm’ Cloud Object Storage technology and to achieve even greater value through integration and economies-of-scale.