IBM Spectrum Scale 5.1 Enhances Active File Manager to Create New Opportunities for RSTOR and Reseller Community to Serve Enterprises

SARATOGA, Calif. - Oct. 28, 2020 - PRLog -- The improvements to Active File Manager introduced by version 5.1 of IBM's Spectrum Scale creates new opportunities to enhance enterprise computing infrastructures by supporting S3 object storage connectivity. This will open the door for IBM resellers to offer new capabilities that will help IT organizations integrate Spectrum Scale Systems into hybrid multi-cloud environments, according to Horst Schellong, Strategic Account Manager for RSTOR.

"It also greatly elevates the value of RSTOR Space, our cloud-based storage platform, as a compelling alternative to expensive network-attached storage-based (NAS) hard-disk solutions for the AFM capacity tier," explains Schellong.

RSTOR -- which in February of 2017 received $45 million in series A funding from Cisco Investments and a further $35 million in funding in late 2019 from Digital Alpha -- has created a next-generation, fast, edge-distributed object storage. By providing an agnostic environment for efficiently storing and transporting data, RSTOR adds a new level of cloud performance (~10x faster) and cost-efficiency (70-80% less) to the AFM capacity tier.

Spectrum Scale AFM integrates On-Premises and Cloud Environments

"Release 5.1 will allow IBM resellers to introduce a new array of 'certified' enterprise features as well as optimizing the price and performance of S3 storage that call for sharing data across compute clusters and storage tiers," says Schellong.

By adding S3 object storage as an AFM target for the capacity tier to Release 5.1, it will now be possible for data to be read/write accessed through both file- and object-interfaces, enabling virtually unlimited scalability at a highly competitive price point. Because Spectrum Scale 5.1 now supports S3 cloud storage, it will allow resellers to expand the range of competitive solutions for enterprise customers.

Other important enhancements introduced by Release 5.1 include: new Quality of Service (QoS) functionality for throttling IOPS throughput; and support for Cloud Object Store (COS, S3) as an AFM target. The latter will provide the ability for organizations to migrate files between IBM Spectrum Scale and various S3 resources by using the intelligence and automation features of AFM.

"All of this is very good news for enterprises that are working across hybrid, multi-cloud infrastructures, because AFM is designed to manage data and compute effectively in today's increasingly heterogeneous environment," says Schellong

The RSTOR Position

When organizations work across complex infrastructures -- whether they are on-premises or in the cloud -- it is important to closely monitor the cost equation. This is especially important if data is dynamically moving from one environment to another. As data workloads are shifted among cloud service providers (CSPs) -- or simply brought back to corporate data centers -- egress fees can quickly add up.

RSTOR offers an agnostic S3 storage layer optimized for storage efficiency and network throughput. RSTOR Space, specifically, is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) object storage solution. It addresses the performance, reliability and budget requirements for storing unstructured data. It also provides a decentralized cloud architecture that utilizes geo-distributed erasure coding and a 100Gbps infrastructure.

The platform provides clients with cloud access at the edge, typically providing throughput performance that is ten times (10x) greater than those offered by traditional CSP's. With Spectrum Scale 5.1 these attributes are now available for an AFM target.

"As an IBM ESA partner, RSTOR is working closely with IBM to embed the new capabilities of Release 5.1 into RSTOR Space. On November sixth, when Spectrum Scale 5.1 is made generally available, RSTOR will be ready," concludes Schellong.

To learn more visit: https://www.rstor.io/partners/ibm