infoTECH Feature

October 21, 2014

Connected Data Launches Private Cloud Storage Platform, 'Transporter Genesis'

It’s pretty clear by now that workers in general love the portability and accessibility of the cloud, for getting work done. Employers and IT folks? Not so much.

Security concerns weigh heavily on those in charge. With all the news of hackers breaking into supposedly “secure” clouds these days, everyone is on edge. So it was with that in mind that Connected Data, the creator of Transporter, the world’s first peer-to-peer private storage device, today rolled out Transporter Genesis. It’s the first private cloud storage platform to combine the simple file management features of a public cloud storage service like Dropbox (News - Alert), with the complete information control offered by a network-attached storage (NAS) system from vendors like NetApp.

We recently caught up with Jim Sherhart, VP of Connected Data, to pick his brain about this breakthrough offering:

TMC (News - Alert): What prompted you to come up with an idea like Transporter Genesis?

Jim Sherhart: It was becoming clear that, as traditional public cloud storage services offered by companies like Box (News - Alert) and Dropbox grew more popular, corporate information was becoming increasingly at risk to privacy issues. Just as IT was not able to hold back the "Bring Your Own Device to Work" movement when employees began demanding to use their personal smartphones to access work information, so too is IT unable to dissuade employees from using their Dropbox or Box accounts to also store work files. Osterman Research reports that up to 43 percent of corporate employees are using Dropbox instead of traditional file servers against the wishes of their IT departments. That increases the exposure of information to unauthorized people, as well as information not being available due to a service outage. It's a significant issue, even for companies that want to embrace cloud storage. So we developed Transporter Genesis as a solution to meet the wants and needs of both employees and IT administrators, particularly those in highly-regulated industries such as legal, healthcare and financial services.

TMC: What is the benefit of this as opposed to using a public cloud for storage?

JS: Transporter Genesis solves the dilemma that CIOs and IT administrators face when trying to meet employees’ demands for the file management and sharing features of public cloud storage services and the need to have control over data. IT can keep all data on-site without having to pay recurring monthly fees, managing storage capacity limits or replacing legacy storage systems.

TMC: Do you think there might be push-back from users favoring the cloud?

JS: No, because users will find the Transporter Genesis file management interface virtually identical to public cloud storage services like Dropbox that they may already be using for storing and sharing their personal photos, videos, music and other information. They can access business files at work, on the road, in remote offices and at home on their computers, tablets and smartphones.

TMC: How do you justify the cost for Transporter Genesis vs. using public cloud storage?

JS: The upfront investment a company makes in purchasing Transporter Genesis is much more cost-effective over time when compared to paying recurring monthly subscription fees to business-class public cloud providers like Box, Egnyte or Syncplicity. All of those services charge at least $180 per employee every year for their business offerings. For companies with 50 or more employees, this means the Transporter completely pays for itself within months of being deployed.

TMC: What are some of the built-in benefits of Transporter Genesis?

JS: As employees become more mobile and work in remote offices, traditional file servers and NAS systems can actually become a hindrance to collaboration and file sharing. Transporter Genesis represents a significant improvement over how users access and organize files. The key features and benefits include:

  • Delivers “anytime, anywhere” file access and sharing;
  • Provides total control over location and redundancy of data;
  • Eliminates privacy concerns of public cloud storage;
  • Automatically syncs data between Transporter appliances;
  • Integrates with Microsoft (News - Alert) Active Directory;
  • Includes versioning, auditing and read-only controls;
  • Provides up to 24TB of cloud accessible storage per node.

TMC: How scalable is it?

JS: Transporter Genesis has been architected to handle the scale required by even the largest corporations. Companies can simply add Transporter Genesis systems in a grid-like fashion to sync offsite and scale capacity and performance as needed.

 
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