QStar Technologies

Cloud storage uses one or a combination of archive technologies. The key difference is that a third party organization manages the storage for the user and provides a simple methodology to send archived data to a remote store. Cloud is best used as the Disaster Recovery (DR) copy of data, however, for low retrieval environments it can also provide a total archive store. Solutions (such as Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, RackSpace, etc) have rapidly grown as users review the cost of offsite storage. For large scale archives, transporting media can be costly and time consuming.

Typically archive data is collected at an “Edge” server, which presents itself as a network share.
Periodically data is sent to the remote store using a dedicated link or wide area network technology. With the correct connection speed, data can be retrieved as if it was still on the users network.

A drawback in using cloud storage is the cost of uploading and downloading data. Many organizations are not proficient at analyzing what they store in their archive (preferring to store all rather than delete data that they made need later). Cloud storage can then be very expensive.

As part of a 3-2-1 Archive, cloud storage can play an important role. Cloud offers a convenient DR store for organizations that do not have a second remote site. Using QStar HSM Replicator, cloud storage can be paired with any local archive storage solution: tape, optical, RDX, RAID or Object storage.

We welcome the opportunity to speak with you about your archiving needs and encourage you to contact us.