Cloud Storage Channel Feature
Symform Talks Cloud Revolution, Unique Pricing Model at Cloud Connect
Cloud storage and backup security service provider Symform has two specific assignments in mind for the IT professionals, developers and cloud providers at this week’s Cloud Connect event: join the cloud revolution, and “be the cloud.”
In a meeting with TMCnet on the first day of the show, Margaret Dawson, vice president of marketing for Symform, explained that the prerequisites for doing so have a lot to do with how the cloud is managed and the “paranoia” typically associated with categorizing the cloud as public, private or hybrid. According to Dawson, perhaps today’s SMBs and enterprises can take a little hint of advice from Symform, which operates on the premise that “all cloud storage is not created equal.”
Symform’s patented Storage Cloud offering is based on an approach that enables its customers – typically those that manage a lot of data, like graphic design, advertising and engineering firms – to take advantage of the Internet’s architecture as well as the unused storage and bandwidth they already have.
The end result is a faster and more reliable and secure cloud service, all at an affordable price.
While its beginnings only go back a few years, Symform forayed into the cloud space in 2009 once it observed two standout trends happening in the market: an astronomical amount of business and critical data, and a disparity of cost between storing data onsite and storing it in the cloud. Whereas many cloud providers deliver a centralized data center infrastructure, Dawson explained, Symform created a model in which users “power” the cloud through a distributed and decentralized network and in exchange get inexpensive cloud storage.
“We encrypt data at the source, chop it into blocks and shred it into 96 fragments,” said Dawson. This process, she said, is called RAID-96, which is based on the traditional RAID storage technology that distributes data to 96 nodes on the network to offer enterprise-level reliability.
This lends itself to Symform’s cost-effective pricing model, as users get unlimited data covered for a flat fee.
“Because we don’t have a centralized infrastructure, our costs for operating are much lower than traditional cloud providers,” said Dawson.
In addition to having two security patents and SSAE 16 certification compliance under its belt, Symform is the first provider to receive a successful audited compliance for data center operations without a centralized data center. When asked how Symform is quelling the ever-present concern of security in the cloud, Dawson explained that the company does so by encrypting data at the source and “geo-distributing” fragmented data so that the file doesn’t resemble anything of its original format, making a breach virtually impossible.
“Even if you encrypt at the source, data still goes through single pipe and sits in a centralized data center. It’s one key for one big chunk of data. When we break it, there is an encryption key for every part of data,” she said.
The cloud trend sparking the most excitement for Dawson is what’s been a different stance on how data should be managed.
“Data is driving everything,” said Dawson. “So, how do we manage this incredible amount of data? Don’t worry about getting control of the cloud; worry about how to manage it securely and allow access to the data because that’s what we need to operate our businesses…we are going toward a fluid way of looking at infrastructure where it’s not going to matter where the data sits, but where users integrate it, share it, and create what we call ‘networks of trust.’”
“We need to get over this paranoia over public, private and hybrid and looking at it more fluidly.”
Symform will be displaying its global peer-to-peer cloud storage network through Wednesday, Feb. 15, at booth No. 619 at Cloud Connect, an event that brings together the entire cloud ecosystem to better comprehend how companies are addressing the cloud transformation.
Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
