Top 5 Enterprise Hybrid Cloud SDS Block Storage Solutions

The growth of SDS is part of a broader transition to the software-defined data center, where infrastructure elements such as compute, storage and networking are abstracted and virtualized.

Increasing SDS capabilities, along with the demand for flexibility and agility, fuels SDS demand. Trending at a compound growth rate of 27%, the SDS market expects to grow $42.79 billion by 2024.

Factors contributing to the growth of SDS include:

• Agility and optionality. Organizations can deploy and configure software-defined storage solutions where and how they want using their preferred server provider, which may differ from their preferred storage software vendor. Expanded deployment options open up within virtual and cloud platforms as SDS solutions free enterprises from particular hardware vendors and infrastructures.
• Increasingly powerful hardware. Advances in underlying system hardware, including multicore CPUs, large amounts of RAM, flash memory, and fast networking, contribute to SDS growth. In many cases, these advances eliminate the need for specialized storage hardware, enabling ever- expanding storage capacity and consistent, low- latency performance.
• Hybrid cloud environments. Cloud adoption and in particular, the embrace of hybrid cloud models stimulates expansion of SDS. Enterprise storage vendors now offer their solutions as software on servers of the customer’s choice and on public cloud platforms. They provide enterprise-class data services with performance characteristics businesses need for confidence to move their work- loads to these platforms.

  Hybrid Cloud Shaping SDS Product Capabilities
  Many organizations desire to move workloads to the cloud or make data available for processing in the cloud without sacrificing data services and integra- tions they rely on in their on-premise datacenters. Their hybrid cloud requirements are shaping SDS product capabilities.

  Examples of this evolution:
  1. Deployment flexibility. Enterprises deploy SDS solutions at the edge, in data centers, and within cloud platforms. Recognizing deployment environments better suit some purposes over others, enterprises move data to where workloads best reside. Thus, organizations look for SDS solutions with flexibility and adaptability to meet the unique needs of these diverse workloads.
  2. Cloud data snapshotting. More than in the past, enterprises are snapshotting to the cloud. Organizations may use that data to recover applications on-premise, recover applications in the cloud, or extract value from that data by running cloud-based processes against it.
  3. Automation and predictive analytics. Data generation, regardless of industry, continues to climb. As data’s value diminishes with age, organizations require automation tools to speed processes with SDS products. Predictive analytic features become a differentiator as companies look to save time and money through insights and recommendations based on AI/ML.
  4. Licensing and pricing. Organizations look for flexibility in their SDS agreements. As contrasted with a traditional contract for an on-premise storage array and then repurchasing those capabilities for data stored in the cloud, companies want agreements that enable them to manage data wherever it lives. In response, solution providers are adapting their licensing and pricing models to accommodate hybrid cloud architectures.

  SDS for Block Storage
  The traditional SAN appliance has long been the trusted, shared platform for an enterprise’s most valuable data. As SDS has moved mainstream, many enterprise storage vendors have made their solutions available as software-defined storage on-premises and in the cloud. Enterprises are comfortable extending trust to these SDS solutions for mission-critical workloads. In many cases, SDS solutions for hybrid cloud environments become a natural extension of the on-premise SAN. With these solutions, the tools and scripts to deploy and manage cloud data are the same as on-premise data management.

Distinguishing Features of Top 5 SDS Enterprise Hybrid Cloud SDS Block Storage Solution Providers

DCIG evaluated 22 SDS solutions supporting block storage protocols. Using fact-based solution analysis and comparisons of defensible data derived from publicly available sources, vendors, and DCIG’s own experience, Top 5 Enterprise Hybrid Cloud SDS Block Storage Solution providers evidenced these characteristics:
1. Substantial revenues. All Top 5 SDS Block Storage solution providers have revenues approximate to or greater than $1 billion. These superior revenues reflect mature technical and support processes that instill confidence in deploying and using the product in enterprise settings.
2. Robust support capabilities. These Top 5 solution providers display robust support capabilities compared to other solutions evaluated. They provide publicly available support documentation for big data applications such as Microsoft SQL, Oracle, and SAP HANA. All these vendors hosted community forums and online knowledge bases for self-service support. They evidenced a greater breadth of technical support options in comparison with the other solutions.
3. Public cloud support. The idea of enterprise hybrid cloud SDS block storage links the concept of on-premise SDS deployment with deployment in at least one public cloud. Large companies look to cloud services for storage expansion, rapid recovery, and running cloud-based workloads. All DCIG TOP 5 solution providers support deployment in at least 2 public cloud platforms, providing ample opportunities for linking enterprise storage to cloud data services.

Similarities between the Top 5 Enterprise Hybrid Cloud SDS Block Storage Solution Providers
In addition to the above characteristics that all Top 5 Enterprise Hybrid Cloud SDS Block Storage solutions generally share, the solutions have these product traits in common.

These include:

AWS
All Top 5 products support product deployment within AWS Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2). They also support Amazon S3 as a storage target. For context, only half the solutions evaluated support AWS EC2 for deployment or S3 as a target.

Supported Public Cloud Deployment Environments

• • • AWS Elastic Cloud Compute: 100%
    • Microsoft Azure Compute: 80%
    • Google Cloud Platform: 60%
    • IBM Cloud: 40%

Encryption
Data encryption is understandably important to enterprise customers. The financial, legal, and brand reputation cost of data leaks and breaches is well-known. All Top 5 solutions provide support for array-based encryption and data-at-rest encryption. All solutions support AES-256 encryption standards. Again, contrasted with the remaining solutions, where only half of the products support these features.

Predictive analytics
Predictive analytics has grown beyond supporting availability through avoiding failures to enabling the greatest value for dollars spent by optimizing performance. All Top 5 products support predictive analytics for optimized data management. Of the twelve different analytic capabilities DCIG asked of each company, Top 5 solution providers average between 6 and 8 features they support. Every provider includes support for AI/ML within the deployment. Most include support for AI/ML based on the entire base of customers. Support for predictive analytics among the other products was notably less. For example, only 2 of the remaining seventeen solutions support predictive AI/ML analytics.

Management integrations
Enterprise customers need products that integrate well with their current technology and infrastructure. DCIG identified more than a dozen different ways an enterprise can manage an SDS product. All Top 5 solutions support at least 7 of these management options. These capabilities support flexibility for how organizations use technology to run their business.