Hybrid Cloud Storage
What is Hybrid Cloud Storage?
Hybrid cloud storage combines on-premises (data center or colo) and public cloud storage resources within an organization’s data landscape via technology that enables data portability. A hybrid cloud strategy enables organizations to leverage on-premises storage and public cloud storage with seamless migration between the two to achieve unprecedented agility, flexibility, and resource optimization across environments.
- Hybrid cloud storage architecture
- Types of hybrid cloud storage
- Data management in hybrid cloud storage
- Advantages and disadvantages of hybrid cloud storage
- Hybrid cloud storage use cases
- Hybrid cloud storage best practices
- HPE leads hybrid cloud storage innovation
Hybrid cloud storage architecture
Hybrid cloud storage employs on-premises and public cloud storage resources to provide a flexible and scalable storage solution. A hybrid cloud strategy enables organizations to leverage on-premises storage and public cloud storage with seamless migration between the two to achieve unprecedented agility and flexibility across environments.
Hybrid cloud storage is comprised of:
- On-premises storage: The most advanced on-prem storage offerings provide a cloud experience in terms of provisioning workloads and ease of management. Organizations use on-premises storage for sensitive or essential data that needs high performance, low latency, or regulatory compliance.
- Public cloud storage: Cloud service providers such as AWS, Azure, and GCP offer storage capabilities for public cloud storage. Public cloud storage solutions are scalable and offer low cost of entry, typically with pay-as-you-go pricing. These solutions can work well for backup, archive, test/dev, and new initiatives. Hybrid cloud combines on-premises infrastructure and public cloud services. Organizations operate hybrid cloud storage to improve flexibility, performance, and cost by effortlessly migrating data between on-premises and public cloud resources based on changing IT demands.
Types of hybrid cloud storage
Across hybrid cloud, storage resources may leverage a variety of storage data types to support diverse use cases:
- Block storage: Ideal for applications that require high performance and low latency, such as databases.
- File storage: NFS and SMB-accessible shared file systems are appropriate for programs like document collaboration and content management systems that need access to shared files.
- Object storage: A highly scalable and durable storage solution, object storage saves data as metadata-rich objects for unstructured data, backups, and archives.
Data management in hybrid cloud storage
Efficient data management is paramount in hybrid cloud storage environments to enhance performance, cost-effectiveness, and data accessibility. Leading storage vendors today offer visibility and control across hybrid environments, including options for data replication and backup, archive, and disaster recovery.
Effective data management in hybrid cloud storage involves optimizing data storage through tiering, implementing data retention and archiving policies, ensuring data redundancy through replication, and establishing robust backup and disaster recovery strategies to safeguard against data loss and downtime.
Data management in hybrid cloud storage
Advantages
- Speed up business outcomes: By using hybrid cloud storage, users don’t have to wait to requisition and procure additional on-premises capacity. Once data is replicated in the cloud, lines of businesses and developers can start running queries within minutes.
- Increase visibility: Most providers offer a central data management console that allows users to view usage and spend, as well as detailed insights into capacity trends.
- Cost savings: With hybrid cloud storage, users can pay as they go rather than shelling out upfront capital to purchase and provision additional on-premises storage infrastructure. This ability enables financial clarity with variable monthly payments based on actual usage.
- Scale on demand: Using hybrid cloud storage, users can access additional capacity in minutes, not months, which allows users to limit the risks of over-provisioning and under-provisioning.
- Free up IT resources: In a hybrid cloud storage model, routine tasks can be managed by the service provider, which allows IT to focus on strategic business initiatives instead.
Disadvantages
- Increased complexity: With two or more storage locations, at least two sets of IT infrastructure must be managed with software designed to handle the multiple locations.
- Higher latency: With data moving to and from the cloud, communication speeds are slower than between infrastructure components in one location.
- Increased management: Hybrid cloud storage comes with the need to manage multiple supplier contracts and system management tools.
Hybrid cloud storage use cases
Organizations use hybrid cloud storage to enable agility and scalability and to modernize and optimize resource utilization by gaining the ability to place apps and data based on performance, cost, and other requirements. Typical use cases include:
- Business continuity and disaster recovery: Hybrid cloud storage can be used when organizations want to keep core data on-premises but allow the business to continue operating during a system failure. By replicating the data in the cloud, enterprises essentially switch workloads to the cloud while repairing or recovering production systems.
- Remote workplaces: Organizations deploy hybrid cloud storage to allow remote access to data while maintaining workload productivity and efficiency.
- Website efficiency: Object stores in a hybrid cloud setup can be used for primary data that customer-facing websites access directly from the cloud. This saves on storage hardware and improves site performance.
- Faster data retrieval: Users often separate archives from frequently used data and place the dormant data in the cloud. This speeds retrieval times for accessing the primary data.
- Security and regulatory compliance: Organizations with regulatory compliance issues often use a private cloud to store sensitive data, while using on-premises hardware or public cloud to store VMs and applications.
- Analytics and machine learning: Hybrid cloud storage providers offer AI-driven predictive analytics to speed troubleshooting and enable uptime for business databases.
- Container optimization: Using hybrid cloud storage, companies can get more out of their containers that are used to move data more easily.
Hybrid cloud storage best practices
- Strategic planning: Conduct a thorough assessment of data requirements and develop a comprehensive hybrid cloud storage strategy aligned with business goals, SLAs, compliance needs, and budget constraints.
- Security and compliance measures: Implement robust security protocols, including encryption, access controls, and identity management to safeguard data both in transit and at rest. Ensure compliance with relevant regulations and industry standards.
- Efficient data management: Classify data based on importance and access frequency, implementing tiered storage architectures for optimal resource utilization. Utilize tools and platforms for seamless data migration, integration, and centralized management across on-premises and cloud environments.
- Performance optimization: Strategically place data on the most suitable storage based on access patterns, latency requirements, and cost considerations. Employ optimization techniques such as caching, data compression, and deduplication to enhance overall system performance.
Cost-effective operations: Monitor storage usage and costs, implementing strategies like cost allocation, budgeting, and regular testing for optimization. Consider factors like data egress fees, storage tiering, and cloud provider pricing models to control expenses and maximize return on investment. Continuous refinement ensures scalability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness in an evolving hybrid cloud storage environment.
HPE leads hybrid cloud storage innovation
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is at the forefront of hybrid cloud storage innovation, offering a comprehensive suite of products and solutions tailored to meet businesses' evolving needs. With a focus on flexibility, scalability, and efficiency, HPE empowers organizations to seamlessly leverage the benefits of both on-premises and cloud-based storage environments.
HPE GreenLake for File Storage: Harness flexible, scalable file storage on-demand to efficiently power file-based workloads with enterprise performance at AI scale while avoiding the complexities of traditional storage infrastructure.
HPE GreenLake for Block Storage: Simplify data management with self-service agility for every app via enterprise block storage built on HPE Alletra Storage MP.
HPE Alletra Storage: Leverage a category-defining, cloud-native data infrastructure that delivers a cloud operating and consumption experience wherever data lives.
HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Business Edition: Build a self-service, self-managed private cloud on demand, wherever you need it, to simplify VM to infrastructure management.
HPE Alletra Storage Servers 4000: Access unmatched performance, efficiency, and scalability, that empowers teams to easily meet the demands of their most data-intensive workloads.
HPE StoreOnce backup appliances: Provide high-performance, deduplicated backup and recovery solutions to protect data efficiently while minimizing storage costs.
HPE StoreEver Tape Storage: Take advantage of a reliable tape storage solution that offers long-term data retention and archival capabilities, ensuring data integrity and compliance with regulatory requirements.
With its comprehensive portfolio of hybrid cloud storage solutions, HPE continues to lead the way in empowering organizations to unlock the full potential of their data assets while driving innovation and agility in the digital era.
