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Cloud Storage Gateway: What Is It & What Are The Use-cases?

According to leftronic, over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated globally every day. This is an immense amount of data one can even imagine, i

According to leftronic, over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated globally every day. This is an immense amount of data one can even imagine, isn’t it? 

Looking at these stats, I wonder how do enterprises even organize and efficiently leverage this data? 

However, there is no doubt that the amount of data created and used by enterprises is growing and will continue to make leaps. So it’s very important to modernize and future-proof your storage resources with smart solutions. 

As most of the enterprises are shifting to the new models of cloud storage & hybrid cloud world then they also need a solution that can boost up data transfer and configure data organization solutions easily. 

Those businesses who want to root out data-related issues like latency, mismanagement and lost files can resolve their issues with smart cloud gateway solutions. 

 Before diving deep into the use cases, let’s probe into the introduction of cloud storage gateway first:

What Is Cloud Storage Gateway?

Simply put, a cloud storage gateway is a solution that translates block & file-level volumes to the cloud via REST or SOAP APIs. No matter if it is a physical/ virtual or any kind of appliance; a cloud gateway offers customized solutions specific for varying appliances. 

Some cloud gateways define caching mechanisms to boost up data transfers. In fact, for enterprise-level organizations cloud gateways offer much more than just simple caching. 

Enterprise-level solutions like StoneFly Smart Cloud Gateway enable users to convert their cloud resources into fully functional NAS, SAN & unified storage systems. In fact, most of them offer native data protection and robust security for distributed file sharing. So your data stay safe at rest and even during transition. 

Now maybe a few questions are popping in your head like; 

  1. How cloud storage gateway can resolve data-related issues?
  2. Why are they valuable for enterprises that already have a cloud? 

Well, this article is all about giving answers to all of your questions related to cloud storage gateway solutions, so give it a read till the end. 

Cloud Storage Gateway Eradicate Latency Issues:

The biggest problem faced by enterprises while using cloud storage is “data latency” because transporting data across a cloud infrastructure results in performance hits. However, when combined with gateway solutions_ this very system starts functioning more efficiently than ever before. 

Because cloud storage is not compatible with traditional application protocols i.e. Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NFS and CIFS. And it only offers object storage with REST or SOAP interfaces. This results in extreme data latency issues. 

On the other hand, when you combine your cloud storage with gateway solutions then you can address this issue easily. Because these solutions translate file and block-level protocols into cloud APIs. 

P.S. Such data latency issues also remain consistent in file-level data volumes in the cloud storage systems. However, you can use gateway solutions to integrate NAS volumes in your cloud storage & overcome this problem while transitioning file-level data packets. 

Cloud Gateways Solutions Add Value To Enterprise-Level Resources

These solutions offer remarkable features that add value to your existing cloud storage system and improve their security, efficiency and scalability to a great extent. 

Cloud Storage Gateways Offer Security:

Most enterprises adore gateway solutions because of the security level it offers. Typical cloud storage systems can have a lot of security issues with CIFS & NFS transfers to the cloud. Because these protocols acquire their security from the network security. 

So when data is transferred to the public cloud then it leaves the security from built-in environment protection. Which makes this system vulnerable to unauthorized access and ransomware attacks. 

Speaking of data security issues, this is the core benefit of cloud gateway solutions that they add data security features to your appliances and make them well-encrypted. 

For example, vendors like StoneFly Inc offer reliable Cloud Gateway solutions that add fundamental value such as secure encrypted data tunnel for data transition and encryption for data stored in your cloud resources. 

StoneFly smart cloud gateway comes up with their patented 8th Gen storage OS (StoneFusion) that offers remarkable data services including dedupe, anti-ransomware protection, immutable snapshots, worm-volume storage and high-level encryption. 

That allows end-users to store, configure, manage and share their data volumes across well-encrypted, highly efficient and well-guarded cloud resources.  

Cloud Storage Gateways Offer Greater Flexibility: 

When you have a cloud gateway solution in hand then you don’t need to bear the pain of choosing particular cloud providers. These solutions also allow end-users to easily avoid data lock-ins. 

Because it allows simple integration between SAN and NAS volumes to the cloud without having to script and changing the script every time you connect with different cloud storage systems. 

It also defines standards for data traffic so you can easily share your workloads in different cloud storage systems. 

Conclusion:

Cloud Gateway solutions improve the performance, efficiency & security of your cloud storage systems. Making it easier for you to share a diverse array of workloads (file and block-level volumes) across the continuum of your network. So you can leverage every bit of data with easily configurable solutions.