Nasuni offers Windows File alternative on Google Cloud

Cloud storage vendor Nasuni has delivered a new offering on Google Cloud that could appeal to users who want to migrate on-premises file servers to the cloud.

Nasuni Files for Google Cloud is the company's flagship software-defined cloud file storage available now within the Google Cloud Marketplace. The company first announced its plans in February.

Nasuni utilizes a file storage front end for immediate access but consolidates data to object storage for backup in the cloud. Nasuni offers similar packages through AWS and Azure, but Nasuni Files for Google Cloud is the company's first offering through the Google Cloud Marketplace.

Russ Kennedy, chief product officer at Nasuni, said Nasuni Files for Google Cloud is specifically designed for users who want to replace legacy, on-premises Windows File Servers with cloud storage in one stop.

Nasuni's storage service is ultimately cloud-neutral and able to work on Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services as well. But this new package allows users to simplify both the purchase itself and later billing if they're interested in using Google exclusively.

"It's all the functionality Nasuni has today on the Google platform," Kennedy said. "There's really nothing restrictive from a customer perspective."

The functionality touted by Nasuni includes built-in backup, disaster recovery and file synchronization across multiple locations and users.

As the service is offered through the Google Cloud Marketplace, all fees and costs are consolidated into a single bill through Google. Nasuni Files for Google Cloud offers migration support and onboarding for the first 20 TB to Google Cloud. Full prices for the services include Nasuni Files at $455 per terabyte per year, along with Google Object Storage at $45 per terabyte per year, according to Kennedy.

Kennedy said the target market for Nasuni Files would be Google Cloud users not served by Google's offerings, such as the individual focus of Google Drive or massive compute needs met by Google Filestore. Specifically, Kennedy pointed to the needs of surveillance video backups, materials made via Adobe Creative Cloud, and backups of legal files, among other uses.

We want to offer something that's simple to understand, simple to acquire, simple to deploy and get started on the migration.

"We want to offer something that's simple to understand, simple to acquire, simple to deploy and get started on the migration," Kennedy said. "We do believe, in the partnership we've established with Google, we fill a very important need in those areas where there's lots of opportunity."

Enrico Signoretti, an analyst at GigaOm, said Nasuni Files for Google Cloud offers an "attractive" price to onboard users with Google Cloud.

"They can provide the same identical services on premise as in the cloud," he said. "They can be a good replacement for a traditional NAS system. At the same time, they can be an enabler to transition to the cloud."

The Nasuni partnership could also help Google target more large enterprises.

"They're trying to find their place in the market," he said. "Google is trying to become more relevant for enterprise users. … This deal with Nasuni is one of many actions they're taking to become more relevant."

Still, Google could also appeal to customers or businesses who may not be comfortable backing up their proprietary data with hyperscalers that offer products or services similar to their own. For example, large retailers might prefer not to invest heavily in AWS products.

"There are preferences based upon experience and based upon market fear, uncertainty and doubt," said Naveen Chhabra, a senior analyst at Forrester.

Nasuni, according to Chhabra, competes with other cloud-native storage vendors such as Panzura and Ctera.

"Nasuni is in the league of very few vendors," he said. "The scale and deployment size of Nasuni has been very impressive."