NetApp's Cloud Volumes ONTAP on Google Cloud

Re-platforming legacy file systems to be hosted across different architectures such as on-premises data centers, private/public clouds, multicloud environments, and edge locations brings various benefits. A common use case is to utilize private, on-premises storage infrastructure for critical data, while leveraging public cloud storage for advanced data warehouse modernization. A hybrid setup also enables businesses to store data where it makes the most sense for their operations while also benefiting from the flexibility and scalability to support changing business needs.

However, data administration of such a diverse and distributed environment can be a challenge, particularly when data is stored in silos and is often inaccessible to those who need it most. A typical solution to this is leveraging a unified data control plane that enables collaboration, data synchronization, and mobility across different storage locations and cloud environments.

Since disparate systems follow different semantics and access protocols, various file formats often lead to data silos and data duplication. As an example, an environment may include Windows servers using the SMB protocol and Linux machines relying on the NFS protocol for shared file access, and any information that has to be shared between the systems needs to be stored in duplicate and somehow kept in sync.

Although configuring Linux machines to access shares over SMB and mounting NFS shares on Windows is possible, the approach is effort-intensive and mostly impractical for production-grade setups. Some legacy file-stores also lack the ability to support multiple versions of tools and engines, making it difficult to integrate cloud and on-prem environments for seamless I/O operations.

The common solution to address this challenge is to leverage a separate file service for each protocol. But that duplicates service and storage costs, and creates new synchronization issues, data silos, and complications.

The continuous growth of cyber security threats in the cloud has compounded data protection and security challenges for businesses. Catering to remote resources through distributed cloud-based file systems introduces novel risks such as data breaches, cyberattacks, and unauthorized access.
In addition to security concerns, local hardware failures, data center outages, human errors, and natural disasters are other points of continuous concern that lead to data loss or service disruptions.

The cloud’s shared responsibility model isn’t a silver bullet either: businesses are still susceptible to security breaches, regulatory violations, and data loss.

The transformation to centralized cloud storage often leads to bad user experience on account of the high latency, particularly for companies that need to distribute data across multiple regions. Access times are further slowed down by geographical distance.

Businesses can use high-capacity servers and network ports as well as advanced caching techniques to improve data access times and reduce the remote file storage footprint. However, copying data from the central repository to disparate locations can silo data and add new complications.

Enterprise-scale file shares depend on high performance networks and servers to ensure reliable data transfer at low latencies for seamless real-time collaboration, regardless of location.

When multiple teams collaborate on files, a locking mechanism is required to avoid creating conflicting versions. Caching also helps users get quick access to files. However, the cloud provider file services don’t provide either of these features.
Cloud-based file shares are also expected to handle high-demand workloads that require large scale data transfers and real-time data processing which can be complex to configure.