New Quantum cloud approach for demanding data workloads

Quantum Corp has announced three new solutions that integrate the cloud into multi-tier, hybrid storage architectures for demanding data workloads. Rejecting the generic one-size-fits-all approach common among many other cloud offerings, the new Q-Cloud solutions enable customers to leverage Quantum’s intelligent data management software to store data in the cloud when it makes the most sense for a given workflow or application.

Q-Cloud Archive and Q-Cloud Vault incorporate the power of the public cloud as an off-site tier within a Quantum StorNext 5 workflow environment, while Q-Cloud Protect for AWS enables customers using Quantum’s DXi deduplication appliances to replicate data to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. With all three offerings, customers can realise the full benefits of the cloud without having to make changes to existing applications or processes.

By providing advantages such as shifting capital expense to operating expense, reducing management time and enabling users to scale up or down as needed, the cloud is clearly transforming traditional IT strategies. However, the cloud has played a limited role for organisations with complex, data-intensive workflows — for example, capturing and evaluating satellite images, producing and distributing high-resolution video, and collecting and analysing network traffic for cyber security defence.

These demanding workflows require reliable, secure, high-performance infrastructure that is tightly integrated with applications — which most cloud offerings don’t provide. In addition, the inherent latency of the cloud and the significant costs that can arise in accessing large amounts of data in the cloud create challenges for customers in managing what data is stored there.

Taking into account both the benefits and challenges of the cloud, Quantum’s approach is to enable customers to combine public cloud storage with on-premise storage in a multi-tier, intelligently managed, application-centric architecture. Rather than treat the cloud as a passive repository or the answer to all needs — as is common among many providers — Quantum integrates the cloud as an active tier in a hybrid storage infrastructure driven by application requirements. This comprehensive approach provides customers with an optimal mix of performance, access, scale and efficiency and is the basis for not only today’s Q-Cloud announcements but also innovative new cloud offerings Quantum is currently developing.