DataCore Announces Swarm Object Storage Solution to Help Organizations Manage Petabyte-Scale Data Cost-Effectively

DataCore Software announced global availability of DataCore Swarm object storage software. Swarm is now available through hundreds of channel partners worldwide, completing the company’s portfolio of best-of-breed software-defined storage solutions for block, file, and object-from a single vendor, with award-winning customer support. 

DataCore Swarm object storage software was designed from the ground up to securely manage billions of files and petabytes of information. It provides a foundation for hyperscale data storage, access, and analysis, while guaranteeing data integrity and eliminating hardware dependencies. Leading enterprises such as BT, Department of Defense, Disney Streaming Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Argonne National Labs, and hundreds more worldwide use Swarm to efficiently manage rapidly scaling data sets.

“We have relied on Swarm object storage for many years to ensure the millions of videos and petabytes of data we collect are searchable and instantly accessible,” said Ken Przywawa, director of infrastructure at Kinetiq. “At that scale, hardware failure is inevitable, and even when issues occur, Swarm has enabled us to single handedly keep our television intelligence network data available in a cost-effective way.”

DataCore Swarm can be used for primary storage of multimedia files including terabyte-sized video, which can be streamed directly from the object store or clipped to make smaller videos for efficient sharing and collaboration. Applications can also store data such as medical records, backups, or archive data directly to Swarm using an S3-compatible API, or standard NFS/SMB file protocols. Cold and warm data from Windows File Server, NetApp, and Dell EMC Isilon can be transparently migrated to lower-cost object storage in Swarm without impacting end users or applications. Additionally, advanced metadata and search capabilities simplify management of billions of files while multi-tenancy makes it ideal for service providers or for central IT departments providing storage-as-a-service to business units across the world.

“Enterprises are moving in the direction of software-defined storage as customers come to understand the flexibility, ease of use and economic benefits that approach brings to the table relative to more hardware-defined approaches,” said Eric Burgener, research vice president, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group at IDC.  “In the wake of its acquisition of Caringo, DataCore now brings a comprehensive software-defined storage platform, supporting block, file and object storage, to the table under a simple fixed price per terabyte licensing approach.  Many customers can appreciate the value proposition this offers to administrators that need to manage all three data types.”

DataCore Swarm simplifies long term retention with WORM capabilities and enables high-performance throughput workloads such as HPC workflows. It brings the benefits of the cloud (hassle-free administration, economics, and scale) to the datacenter, enabling enterprises to have an on-premises solution that performs like a private cloud-at less than half the cost of many public cloud alternatives.

In addition to the standard infrastructure management features available in most object storage solutions, Swarm is designed to:

• Eliminate complexity and streamline deployment through highly efficient software that runs on any mix of commodity hardware
  
• Meet most unstructured data workloads with scalable performance through a symmetric architecture that is self-healing and self-managing
  
• Ensure data availability by combining policy-based protection with rapid, proactive rebuild and recovery
  
• Provide instant access to content through a web portal for administrators and end users that includes search and the ability to customize metadata
  
• Easily enable distributed workflows with robust web-based multi-tenant management, integrated data replication and backup/disaster recovery to any S3 enabled service or device
  
• Scale easily and linearly from terabytes to hundreds of petabytes with low administration
  
• Provide intelligent data management for content access, delivery, and archive

DataCore also now offers attractive pay-as-you-go pricing for hosted, cloud, and managed service providers, as well as new term licensing options for Swarm. Swarm complements DataCore’s leading software-defined storage portfolio including vFilO  and DataCore SANsymphony software. vFilO is a next-generation global file system for distributed sites and hybrid clouds designed to help enterprises organize, optimize, and control large volumes of data. SANsymphony delivers the benefits of hardware independence, flexibility, availability, performance, efficiency and cost savings for block-based storage.

“Our global clientele, across all markets, are facing growing challenges in rapidly scaling media libraries that must be protected and instantly accessible,” said Liz Davis, vice president of Media Workflow Group, Diversified. “These clients count on us to deliver trusted and innovative digital media solutions to meet their needs. Swarm object storage is the solution we recommend because it is a best-of breed technology that has been proven at scale and is now backed by DataCore’s commitment to the channel and the support they bring to solutions integrators like us.”