Arcitecta has upgraded its Mediaflux software to become a Universal Data System orchestrating, managing, and storing geo-distributed unstructured data across its entire lifecycle.
Mediaflux is an unstructured data silo-aggregating software abstraction layer with a single namespace that can store files and objects in on-premises SSDs, disk or tape, or the public cloud, with a database holding compressed metadata. There is a fast Mediaflux data mover to put files in the appropriate storage tier.
Mark Nossokoff, Cloud & Storage lead analyst at Hyperion Research, said in a statement: “By working to converge data management, orchestration, and storage onto a single unified platform, Arcitecta is aiming to boost users’ data accessibility, manageability, and scalability. And with pricing based on concurrent users rather than on capacity-based data volumes being managed, and eliminating the need for third-party software and file systems, Arcitecta is also seeking to significantly lower their customers’ costs.”
Up until now enterprise and most organizational files have been stored in clustered systems using dual controller nodes, with objects stored in scale-out systems. High-performance computing (HPC) systems have used parallel file systems such as Lustre and Storage Scale (GPFS). As file and object storage capacity needs have increased from terabytes to petabytes and on to exabytes, a need rose for lifecycle management software to analyze an organization’s unstructured data estate and move less-accessed data from fast and expensive storage to less expensive but slower tiers, such as from SSD to disk, and then on to tape or to object storage, on-premises or in the public clouds. Komprise is an active supplier in this area.
Public cloud object stores have been used as a basis on which to provide file collaboration between remote users. Suppliers such as CTERA, Egnyte, Nasuni and Panzura are specialists in this sphere.
Another need is now growing, and that is a requirement to be able to navigate an unstructured data estate composed of billions of files and objects that can be global in scope and used by distributed and remote offices. This has given rise to data orchestrators, predominantly Hammerspace, which manages sophisticated metadata repositories and enable access to globally distributed files as if they are local.
Now along comes Arcitecta saying you don’t need these extra software layers. Its Mediaflux metadata-driven software can do it all.
It claims its Mediaflux Universal Data System can provide:
- Converging data management, orchestration and storage within a single platform to allow customers to access, manage, and utilize data assets more effectively.
- Manage every aspect of the data lifecycle, both on-premises and in the public cloud, with globally distributed access, providing cataloging, transformation, dissemination, preservation, and eventual storage. This streamlines the processes as data moves through its lifecycle.
- Multi-protocol access and support with NFS, SMB, S3, SFTP and DICOM, providing flexible access and interoperability. Its global distributed access ensures data can be retrieved from any location, facilitating international collaboration among data-intensive organizations such as research facilities, universities, entertainment studios, and government institutions.
- Scalability as Mediaflux licensing, based on the number of concurrent users, is decoupled from the volume of data stored so organizations can affordably scale storage needs to hundreds of petabytes, accommodating hundreds of billions of files without the financial strain typically associated with such vast capacities.
- Clustered storage capabilities without the need for third-party software, whether a business is using block storage from one vendor or multiple vendors, and Mediaflux can integrate and manage all the data and storage within the environment.
- Cost savings by eliminating the need for third-party software, storage fabrics and volume-based pricing. Mediaflux’s intelligent data placement feature optimizes storage efficiency by automatically tiering data based on usage and access patterns.
- Supports multi-vendor storage environments, allowing customers to choose best-of-breed hardware. The storage underlying the Mediaflux Universal Data System can be from any vendor or multiple vendors.
- Fast file transfer with integrated high-speed WAN file transfer features, with throughput of up to 95 percent of the available bandwidth on networks of 100 GbitE or more. Metadata and adaptive compression capabilities increase speed by eliminating redundant file and data transfers for optimized data movement.
Arcitecta also claims that, despite having fast file transfer, Mediaflux can take compute operations directly to the data without moving the data over a network. With a direct path approach, users can collaborate more effectively with a system that distributes compute algorithms to where the data resides. This approach is important since transmitting data over large distances is expensive and inefficient.
Hammerspace also recognizes that transmitting data over large distances is expensive and time-consuming and has a partnership with Vcinity to deal with the problem.
The Mediaflux Universal Data System is available immediately. There is a Solution Brief here and some webpages on the Mediaflux Universal Data System here if you would like to find more.
Jason Lohrey, CEO and Arcitecta founder, commented: “Mediaflux Universal Data System is the culmination of Arcitecta’s vision for the future of data management. By merging world-class data management, orchestration, multi-protocol access, and storage into one cohesive platform, we aim to set a new industry standard that moves beyond data storage and makes data more accessible, manageable and valuable than ever before.”
