Ctera builds new data migration, ILM and security capabilities into its platform

Ctera Networks recently unveiled new enhancements to its Enterprise File Service Platform that include the ability to migrate data from an on-premise cloud to the public cloud without disrupting service, and support for information lifecycle management tools from Amazon S3 and the NetApp StorageGRID object storage.

The platform also has been upgraded to support Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 to centralize identity management for single sign-on (SSO) capabilities to access files and backups.

The new data migration tools targets customers who have not deployed a cloud strategy and want to start on-premises and need the flexibility to eventually move to the public cloud.

The Ctera Enterprise File Service Platform integrates Enterprise File Sync and Share, endpoint and data protection, along with branch and remote office storage. The new capability allows users to migrate workloads across storage nodes from any on-premise location to the public cloud.

“You can start with Ctera in (your) data center and then you can move to a public cloud. It’s moves very quickly. It provides flexibility,” said Jeff Denworth, CTERA’s senior vice president of marketing. “We built this tool because no one wants to be locked in. Now, you have a marketplace of options.”

The new ILM capability gives users a way to use the Ctera platform to tier high-performance workloads onto the NetApp StorageGRID and in-frequently accessed data to Amazon S3. It leverages ILM tools from Amazon S3) and NetApp StorageGRID to intelligently place files in cloud storage tiers according to their application profile.

Long-term archive and backup data can be directed to low-cost storage tiers, such as Amazon Web Services’s (AWS) Amazon S3-Standard Infrequent Access tier (Standard – IA), while interactive data, such as enterprise file sync and share workloads, can be stored on storage tiers that offer more cost-efficient ingress and egress capabilities.

“We tag data as it goes through our system as either interactive or archival and then its diverted to the general purpose tier like S3,” Denworth said.

The new security features CTERA now supports identity federation over Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 to so users can use centralized corporate user identity management and provide SSO capabilities for file and backup access. In conjunction with support for this new standard, Ctera also now is compatibility with leading SSO offerings, including Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services 2.0, Okta, OneLogin, and Ping Identity.

“(The platform) has been integrated with modern identity tools so users sign in with SSO,” Denworth said.

The Ctera Enterprise File Services Platform enables enterprise IT to protect data and manage files across endpoints, offices, and the cloud – all within the organization’s on-premises or virtual on-premises cloud storage.

The platform is powered by Ctera’s cloud service delivery middleware that users leverage to create, deliver, and manage cloud storage-based services such as enterprise file sync and share, in-cloud data protection, endpoint and remote server backup, and office storage modernization.