PoINT Archival Gateway Compact Edition S3 Object Storage on Tape Solution for Small and Medium-Sized Installations

PoINT Software & Systems GmbH has added a number of functions to its Archival Gateway and now offers a Compact Edition of its tape-based S3 object storage system for small and medium-sized installations.

With the Compact Edition, the company is targeting businesses looking for a cost-effective solution for tape-based storage and management of data volumes in the single-digit petabyte range.

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The Archival Gateway is a scalable, performance S3-based object storage software system. It stores and manages large quantities of data on tape libraries. Tape technology in particular is playing an increasingly important role among businesses, in light of the enormous rise in volumes of unstructured data, increasing demands on archival systems and the need to protect (air-gap) systems vs. ransomware. Tape-based media are also more cost-effective than HDD-based systems for storing and archiving large quantities of data.

In order for companies to integrate tape libraries into their storage infrastructure, it is advisable for them to use software based on S3 object storage principles. The standardised S3 API is being supported by more and more applications, and its underlying HTTP protocol is also particularly effective in light of the particular properties of tape, such as long load times. This is the approach the firm realised with the Archival Gateway.

Archival Gateway dashboard
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Solution for big storage
This scalable solution supports installations with up to 8 tape libraries holding several thousand slots for storing hundreds of petabytes. Now, the Compact Edition offers an alternative for small to medium-sized installations. The functionality of the Compact Edition is identical to that of its larger version. This solution can be installed on one server and optionally set up to run redundantly on a second. It is a particularly cost-effective solution for customers with storage requirements in the single-digit petabyte range.

Customers using HDD-based object storage systems such as NetApp StorageGRID or Cloudian HyperStore can use the Archival Gateway to copy their data to tape.

The company also offers an emulator version of the Archival Gateway for proofs of concept and testing purposes. It can be used to test how to integrate tape-based S3 object storage without physically configuring a tape library.

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March 6, 2019 | Press Release