Commvault added a standalone cloud file and object archive service to its Metallic SaaS to help tackle unstructured data growth and the associated costs.
Commvault has added a new file and object archive capability to Metallic, its SaaS data management offering, to lower storage costs and expand archive options.
Launched at the Commvault Connections 2022 virtual event, Metallic File & Object Archive archives cold data in the public cloud, freeing up on-premises storage capacity.
Data continues to balloon, growing by 40% every year, according to Vinny Choinski, analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). This growing data must be stored, but once it is no longer used in day-to-day business, it can be housed and managed in a more cost-effective manner.
"Archiving is critical to managing this data growth," Choinski said.
Metallic has been rolling out new features since it was first announced, primarily around data protection, he said, but now the service includes a standalone archive feature to move colder data to the cloud.
Tackling costs
Archiving data on premises requires more storage to fulfill a company's capacity needs, according to Johnny Yu, research manager at IDC. When on-premises capacity runs low, companies have to buy more media and manage the additional drain on hardware and space. If organizations need to retain data long-term, the issue of the continued costs persists.
"The point of using the archive is that users are actually deleting data from primary storage so that they free up space in primary storage," Yu said.
Since it is used less frequently, moving archive data to lower-cost storage -- be it on premises or in the public cloud -- makes financial sense, Yu said.
Krista Macomber, analyst at Evaluator Group, added that maintaining and paying for ever-growing pools of archive data is something customers struggle with. While storing the data on premises might be less expensive than in the cloud, cloud cost management is a key benefit of Metallic File & Object Archive, according to Macomber.
Expanding options
Metallic File & Object Archive, which is available now and starts at $58.50 per TB, per month, offers immutable archiving and air-gapped protection, according to the company. The service uses Commvault's intelligent data placement to ensure regulatory compliance.
With automated data movement, Commvault can meet compliance requirements from the customer, Yu said.
Commvault's metadata cataloging for search or e-discovery and automated lifecycle management is another benefit for customers looking for an archive product, Macomber said.
Features such as automated lifecycle management and data indexing provide Metallic users a chance to manage their archive data more effectively by enabling them to consider risk management or data placement, ESG's Choinski said.
"Just because data is moved to archive doesn't mean you don't have to manage it," he said.
Everyone needs to have an archive for intelligent data management. If you are a Metallic customer, you don't have to go outside your box to do archiving now.
Vinny ChoinskiAnalyst, Enterprise Strategy Group
Data that is archived is still useful to organizations beyond regulatory compliance, Choinski said. Using intelligent data management, companies can gain insights into both the content and context of the data, and use nonproduction data for business purposes, he added.
"Doing backup and recovery is not enough for data protection companies," Choinski said. "They need to focus on intelligent data management."
Adding features adds competition
This isn't the first archive product or service from Commvault, Choinski said, but it is the first for Metallic, which customers can access under one dashboard. It is also a standalone service, which would put it in competition with other archive offerings such as XenData or Iron Mountain.
"Everyone needs to have an archive for intelligent data management," Choinski said. "If you are a Metallic customer, you don't have to go outside your box to do archiving now."
But Metallic File & Object Archive might not be a right fit for every company. Customers that have large amounts of data to be archived have been archiving the data themselves and will continue to do so. Smaller customers with less data to archive might see this as more appealing.
While it ultimately comes down to cost, if a company has already invested in an archive product, they might stay with it, Yu said. However, if the customer isn't satisfied with how they archive, Metallic offers a substitute.
Enterprise Strategy Group is a division of TechTarget.
Adam Armstrong is a TechTarget Editorial news writer covering file and block storage hardware and private clouds. He previously worked at StorageReview.com.
