Storage Made Easy
Streamlining Object Storage Strategies

CIOs of many leading organizations prefer storage systems that can run on any type of hardware, meet their global business requirements, and avoid unwanted expenditure on resources. Therefore, firms are adopting cloud-based object storage systems like Red Hat Ceph Storage as opposed to traditional, private cloud to gain remarkably from an ROI perspective. Whether utilized in a Red Hat Enterprise (RHE) or Red Hat OpenStack offering, Red Hat Ceph Storage brings in the necessary performances that an organization expects without relying on the specifications of hardware infrastructure. “Today, companies need to find ways in which their users can interact with the storage systems without disturbing the organizational workflow,” begins Jim Liddle, CEO of Storage Made Easy (SME). “And, reducing disruption at the user level is where SME excels.”

Initially, SME dedicated itself to garner recognition federating on-premises and on-cloud storage assets. Over time, the firm carved itself a niche in the industry as ‘an enabler for IT’ by offering a formidable solution for Object Storage and end user facilitation. With its partnership with Red Hat, SME provides a solution that enables users to access their stored Red Hat Ceph Object Storage data in a way that is similar to syncing applications like drop box whilst also providing something unique with regards a desktop drive that provides a remote view of object storage data. “We have taken our alliance with Red Hat to the next level because the market is making it very clear that Ceph is a growing object storage solution and Red Hat is the corporate sponsor of this project,” says Liddle.

SME’s core product, Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) when paired with Red Hat Ceph Storage as the back end target offers with strategic end user driven use cases the ability to fulfill them. The EFSS Fabric along with the Red Hat Ceph Storage takes the newest type of storage infrastructure and adds a fully capable business application.

Today, companies need to find ways in which their users can interact with the storage systems without disturbing the organizational workflow

“The joint solution enables seamless access of existing data from Red Hat Ceph Storage with the SME product,” explains Liddle. “Users keep using the EFSS application, on any device (iOS, Android, Windows) whilst the IT department seamlessly migrate data to the Red Hat environment.”

The University of Lorraine chose the SME EFSS solution to implement with Red Hat Ceph Storage and Rados. Stéphane Dugravot, Project Leader at the Infrastructure and Services Department of University of Lorraine said, “By enabling us to use our own storage in its traditional forms, block and file system, and less common, object storage, the University of Lorraine is now ready to face the challenges and changes currently disrupting the storage technologies industry.”

SME’s solutions are focused on helping companies to federate different on-premises and on-cloud related file storage points to enable a single management, policy, and governance framework. “We believe that this presents a huge opportunity for us to not only sell to our existing customer base but also to target potential customers that are facing the same problem,” says Liddle. SME is also proposing to use metadata of the files that it already collects to provide an ‘adaptive intelligence layer’ to help clients with smarter information about their files and content. “We envision that this adaptive intelligence layer will provide information on user behaviors, patterns to identify harmful actions, and regulatory requirements,” concludes Liddle.