Today’s Storage Transformation With SwiftStack Object Storage

There’s an interesting shift happening in the storage space right now. IT pros are beginning to think of storage and how applications are consuming storage in a markedly different way. And enterprises are following by utilizing storage in new ways, depending on their needs and specific applications.

In our recent RoadCast video series, we met with SwiftStack’s Chief Evangelist, Mario Blandini, to learn about the company’s perspective on this transformation and what the current landscape for consuming storage looks like. As one of the leaders in this space, SwiftStack leverages object storage to power hybrid cloud storage for enterprises while seamlessly integrating with existing IT infrastructure.

Blandini tells us that today, storage is going through the same transformation that compute did, comparing the current storage transition to how virtualization changed the way we utilize compute in the data center. Storage is no longer just the place for storing data, it’s the system by which all of the places where data exists expose what we like to call a single namespace, Blandini explains. It’s the idea that you write your application once and from there it can communicate via file access protocols or your cloud API, depending on what it needs to do.

This does not mean that traditional storage topologies are going to be replaced by new storage topologies, says Blandini. It simply means that whatever the best place to run a specific application is will be where the application will run. Today’s enterprises want the same elasticity, cost savings and high availability that virtualization offers in their storage, says Blandini.

Another important part of the storage transformation is that newer applications are running into specific problems with traditional storage, which are pushing enterprises to rework the way they do storage. Blandini says this is where the idea of what the right app is for the right use case. He goes on to illustrate some specific use cases and their business impact, covering some important considerations like capacity, performance and latency, reliability, scalability, storage costs and much more. In the video, Blandini also offers some great info on the basics of object storage for those who are new to it.

To learn more about SwiftStack, object storage and today’s storage transformation visit swiftstack.com and swiftstack.com/blog.