Many organizations are discovering that their users, via a proliferation of wireless devices, and easy access to consumer-based storage clouds, are precariously storing corporate data on pubic clouds. Addressing this growing problem, Dell recently certified Mezeo Software, a provider of the storage services layer for cloud-scale applications, as a partner in the Dell DX Object Storage Technology Partner Program.
This partnership integrates Mezeo solutions with the Dell DX Object Storage Platform to create an enterprise-class secure mobile collaboration file sync and share solution that IT can provide to users while keeping data stored behind the corporate firewall. The partnership also enables other perks, such as expanding backup and archiving capabilities and offering on-demand storage for developers.
I caught up with Dell Enterprise Storage Solutions’ Sr. Product Marketing Managers Sarah Doherty and Yatin Chalke, to find out exactly why Dell chose Mezeo as a partner and how the ensuing solution improves security and provides additional benefits.
Joshua: Thanks, Yatin and Sarah, for taking time out of your busy schedules to speak with us today.
Yatin: It’s not a problem. Thanks for having us.
Joshua: So, let’s jump right in. My first question is this: why did Dell choose Mezeo as a partner to its existing product platform?
Sarah: Many organizations today are scrambling to stop corporate data from leaking onto public clouds. Also, the growing number of wireless devices are driving additional challenges for organizations struggling to provide secure and easy access to corporate data. Employees are bringing their own devices to work or are using corporate-supplied smartphones and tablets; consequently, IT departments are struggling to find a way to enable mobile users while protecting corporate data.
By working with Mezeo and our “content-aware” DX Object Storage Platform, Dell can enable a secure mobile collaboration solution for our enterprise customers. Dell DX Object Storage Platform is based on peer-scale architecture that can scale to billions of files and terabytes or petabytes of data. Leveraging the rich metadata to efficiently store, access and distribute digital content, it can enable policy-based local- and wide-area replication to provide data protection without traditional backup.
Joshua: Your solution targets crucial areas for cloud storage and cloud application managers. Please explain how your product, alone or combined with Mezeo, helps information technology (IT) improve security–including, but not limited to, mitigating corporate data leakage to the public cloud.
Sarah: The Dell-Mezeo solution can deliver corporate file sync and share capabilities with data stored behind an enterprise’s firewall or federated to hybrid clouds via a trusted service provider.
The secure data protection features of the DX platform combined with Mezeo ensure that IT can maintain control of its corporate data and infrastructure, including its security, reliability, availability and performance. The solution can scale to millions of users and billions of objects while performance remains at its peak, so users now have a scalable, high performing corporate alternative to public storage clouds.
Moreover, it also provides features that help IT maintain account control through identity management and activity logging. The IT team can store the data behind its corporate firewall or federated across a hybrid cloud and use geo services to control where the data is stored for regulatory or other geo-sensitive purposes.
Integrity of data stored in the Dell DX Object Storage Platform is ensured, in part, by the self-healing functions which continuously check stored objects to detect and repair errors and automatically reconfigure and regenerate objects without the need for IT intervention. Dell and Mezeo provide a set of services for your cloud scale applications to improve security and reduce IT complexity.
Joshua: How does your solution enhance existing investments in backup and recovery storage infrastructure?
Yatin: The Dell Storage and Mezeo solution also allows IT to leverage its existing investments for backup and archiving. The Mezeo Interoperability API [application programming interface] offers three key advantages: compatibility, flexibility and scalability.
One can use a variety of backup or archive solutions with Mezeo and the cost-efficient Dell DX Object Storage Platform. It also allows IT to leverage the solutions it has in place today to extend backup and archive capabilities.
Joshua: How does it enable developers across an organization to use enterprise cloud storage that is equivalent to public cloud storage–for example, Amazon Web Services Simple Storage Service (AWS S3)?
Yatin: The Mezeo and Dell DX Object Storage Platform can offer more than a typical file sync and share solution. It also allows you to expand the value of what you can provide to your users while creating storage on demand and private cloud solutions.
The Dell DX Object Storage Platform RESTful APIs provide access to the platform via multiple access protocols. The platform SDK enables native HTTP integration into the storage platform via multiple programming languages–for example, C++, Java, Python, C#.
This allows developers across the organization to leverage the enterprise-class Dell DX Object Storage Platform while utilizing the advantages of non-disruptive capacity expansion, technology transitions and automated load-balancing features.
This enables developers to write interfaces that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data via geographically independent web access to the enterprise-class storage device. It also allows them to leverage its rich metadata capabilities to efficiently store, access and distribute digital content for policy-based local- and wide-area replication and distribution.
DCIG believes the Mezeo secure file sync and share solution with the Dell DX Object Storage Platform has created an enterprise-class secure mobile collaboration offering to help keep data behind the corporate firewall. However, the solution provides more than Private Cloud File-Sync-and-Share for Data Leakage Protection. The solution supports expanding backup and archiving capabilities and offering on-demand storage for developers.