Xendata Unveils CX-10 Hybrid Cloud Storage Appliance for Media Files

XenData Limited launches its CX-10 appliance, which can manage a single hybrid file system across two storage tiers: 10TB of on-premises RAID and unlimited Microsoft Azure blob storage.

The appliance allows existing file-based applications to use cloud storage without the need for modification.

The CX-10 has configurable RAID retention policies that determine which files are written to the cloud, local RAID or both, allowing users to set policy rules for different file types and folders.

The RAID retention policies keep frequently accessed files on local storage, which maximizes restore rates and minimizes both cloud access costs and Internet bandwidth usage.

For example, current projects can be stored on local disk with a data protection copy on Azure.

Once a project is completed, retention policies may be updated to replace the project files held on disk with sparse files (stubs), freeing up local disk storage while maintaining immediate access to the content from the cloud.

The CX-10 runs company’s Cloud File Gateway software on a Windows 10 OS. The hybrid file system is presented as a logical drive letter, which can be accessed locally or as one or more Windows network shares. Optimized for media files, it includes certified integration options for a range of media applications, including many media asset management systems, and supports partial file restore, which allows clip creation from large video files without downloading the full file.

Gateway provides following:

• Scalable system: Content stored in the cloud is unlimited, growing to multiple petabytes, and the CX-10 can store up to two billion files within the hybrid file system, making it scalable in both capacity and number of managed files

• File sharing and security: Files may be accessed locally or shared via SMB or FTP, and the tiered storage volume is compliant with the Microsoft security model based on Active Directory, allowing for easy introduction into an existing Windows domain or workgroup

• Internet bandwidth optimization: Scheduled time windows may be configured to postpone file copies being made to Azure, allowing Internet bandwidth to be optimized when in high demand

“The CX-10 is a smarter way to implement cloud storage for media professionals. It combines high performance and continuous backup for files that are often accessed together with unlimited storage in the cloud for less frequently accessed content,” said Phil Storey, CEO and co-founder, XenData. “It is perfect for organizations that need to manage large volumes of creative video files, image files or files from a variety of scientific and engineering applications.“

The CX-10 is a compact 1U rack mount unit with two mirrored enterprise 10TB disks for the on-premises storage. These keep the system running even in the event of a disk drive failure. It includes a solid-state boot volume and two USB 3.0 ports, which are for direct connecting USB drives with content to be offloaded to the CX-10 hybrid storage. The base model has two 1GbE network ports and options for additional 10GbE ports are available.

The CX-10 is priced from $6,950, including twelve months of onsite support and subscription for the firm’s Cloud File Gateway.

It will be demonstrated for the first time at the IBC Expo in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from 15-19 September 2017.