Fujifilm and iRODS Partnering

Fujifilm Recording Media U.S.A., Inc. and the iRODS Consortium have announced a collaboration and integration creating a joint solution built upon Fujifilm Object Archive software.

This joint solution leverages the benefits of a tape storage tier, providing an automated archiving workflow for research, commercial and governmental organisations that require storing large – and in most cases growing – amounts of data.

With this solution, Object Archive becomes a deep tier archive storage target while iRODS provides a data management platform for users who produce massive amounts of research and analytics data.

Object Archive software has been tested with the iRODS S3 plug-in and support the Amazon S3 abstraction that iRODS provides. In addition to regular S3 compatibility, Fujifilm and the iRODS Consortium worked together to add functionality to the iRODS S3 Resource plug-in.

This new functionality will be available as part of the upcoming iRODS 4.2.11 release.

Moving appropriate data to the tape tier provides the benefits of air-gap security and scalability while being cost-effective and energy-efficient when compared to other storage media. Additionally, Object Archive software supports the LTO-9 tape technology, making the solution potentially more efficient, economical and scalable.

“We are very excited to be working with Fujifilm,” said Terrell Russell, interim executive director, iRODS Consortium. “Together, we are building a long-term relationship that will be good for our users and both organisations.“

“The new interoperability between Object Archive and iRODS will greatly benefit organisations who use both products and potentially create new use cases as well,” said Tom Nakatani, VP sales and marketing, Fujifilm. “We are pleased to successfully implement this joint solution to better support our collaborators and users.“

Fujifilm LTO-9
Fujifilm is a storage tape manufacturer.¹ Its Object Archive software allows object storage to be written to and read from data tape media with Fujifilm’s OTFormat. Using the Amazon S3-compatible API, it offers the same operability as cloud storage and easy long-term retention of data. By using Object Archive software to optimise existing storage, organisations can eliminate egress fees, offload colder data to tape, maintain chain of custody, utilise a cost-effective tier of storage, and minimise cyber threats by providing a physical airgap to data.