The explosion of unstructured data is making it increasingly difficult for organizations to manage and store it. However, this unprecedented expansion is a double-edged sword. Opportunities abound to tap into this treasure trove, but challenges also arise in organizing it. Another key factor impacting data management is that, according to Gartner, by 2025, 75% of enterprise data will be created and processed at the outer edge of traditional centralized data centers and clouds. That's it. Today, businesses around the world are grappling with a growing number of data-related issues, from cyber threats and compliance concerns to the complexities of data sovereignty.
Vice President of Products and Partnerships at Cubbit.
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At the forefront of cybersecurity concerns is data sovereignty. Although major cloud providers are making their best efforts to comply with strict regulations such as NIS2, ISO 27001, and GDPR, the situation is still fraught with complexity. For many organizations that handle sensitive data, relying on a cloud service provider inherently comes with a myriad of hurdles. In particular, cloud law applies when it comes to the location of data storage (within or outside national borders) and the jurisdiction in which the company operates. This has become a big problem.
Data independence and control have never been more important. The market is full of cloud storage solutions, but once data is consolidated within these systems, transferring it to alternative environments such as other clouds, data centers, or on-premises becomes difficult and potentially leading to vendor lock-in. Innovative hybrid and multicloud strategies.
The threat landscape is also evolving. Meanwhile, regional disasters, from data center fires to earthquakes, are on the rise, impacting service continuity. Meanwhile, ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, targeting both client-side and server-side vulnerabilities with unprecedented precision. Therefore, from a user's perspective, ransomware attacks can be considered even more vicious than natural disasters.
The scenario becomes even more complex when costs are considered. Expansion efforts by cloud providers that involve building new physical sites not only exacerbate environmental and sustainability concerns, but also lead to higher costs. Additionally, hidden fees (e.g. egress, 90-day deletion policies, redundancy) imposed by some major cloud storage providers make predicting costs a considerable challenge. In many cases, these additional charges can equal or exceed initial storage costs, effectively doubling your organization's financial burden.
Centralized and distributed clouds: new features
At first glance, cloud solutions provided by hyperscalers may seem widely distributed. However, they often rely on large but centralized infrastructures where data is stored within a few data centers.
Distributed cloud storage takes a fundamentally different approach by separating the control plane from the data itself. This facilitates data storage across multiple locations, both on-premises and across multiple cloud platforms, and provides increased redundancy and resiliency. This paradigm shift is game-changing for several reasons. This not only eliminates many traditional barriers and paves the way for a more robust multi-cloud strategy, but also takes flexibility and resiliency in data storage and management to a whole new level. In this model, the service provider maintains control plane control, while the actual computing resources can be flexibly deployed and moved by the organization. The essence of a distributed cloud is its ubiquity, whether within a single public cloud ecosystem, across multiple cloud environments, or within a private data center.
Rethinking control and sovereignty
One of the biggest benefits of distributed clouds is the unprecedented level of control they provide. In fact, the distributed model eradicates the common problem of vendor lock-in while allowing organizations to specify precisely the geographic boundaries within which their data resides. This means you can safely store some of your data in France, Italy, Germany, or literally anywhere you want, providing an unprecedented level of redundancy while adhering to data localization requirements. Beyond data sovereignty, decentralized cloud storage fosters comprehensive independence across all aspects of data management, allowing organizations to move forward in evolving regional, European, and global environments without relinquishing control to third-party providers or hyperscalers. compliance with applicable regulations.
The importance of this cannot be overstated, especially in a region where data governance and digital sovereignty are key. In this context, distributed cloud uniquely meets the needs of sovereignty, cost control, and policy management, offering a balanced compromise between on-premises and public cloud models. It combines the IT infrastructure control traditionally associated with on-premises storage with the scalability and flexibility of public cloud services.
Distributed cloud applications and benefits
Distributed cloud storage technology is versatile and supports a wide range of use cases, from backup and disaster recovery to facilitating collaboration and housing vast data lakes for AI and machine learning efforts. Its latest development delivers unprecedented resiliency through encryption, fragmentation, and replication across a customizable storage network, allowing MSPs and enterprises alike to leverage 100% of their uniquely ultra-resilient sovereigns. Build and deploy an S3-compatible object storage network in minutes with full control. It's about data, infrastructure and cost.
This autonomy transforms MSPs and VARs into independent object storage providers, allowing them to deliver secure and compliant storage solutions, maintain direct relationships with customers, and increase profit margins. Full customization also means that MSPs can create bespoke industry clouds designed to meet the specific requirements of the industry or region in which their customers operate.
On the other hand, businesses benefit from a hybrid model that combines the benefits of cloud storage and on-premises solutions without the drawbacks.
Distributed cloud's ability to tailor storage networks to meet specific national compliance requirements such as GDPR, ISO 27001, and CCPA further emphasizes its usefulness. Its architecture, designed to prevent single points of failure, can ensure up to 9.9 degrees of data durability and minimize the risk of downtime and data breaches, thus supporting cybersecurity, digital sovereignty, and independence. Particularly suitable for scenarios where is mission-critical.
Finally, this model optimizes resources by reusing what already exists on the enterprise or data center premises. This extends the lifespan of your storage hardware while reducing your carbon footprint and e-waste. This green approach not only addresses environmental concerns, but also meets the growing demand for sustainable IT solutions.
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