The News: CTERA announced a new capability, CTERA Fusion, that provides unified block and file services to the CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform. CTERA Fusion provides direct read and writes via S3 and a unified global namespace between file and object data. Read more about CTERA Fusion in the press release on the CTERA website.
CTERA Unifies File and Object Access With CTERA Fusion
Analyst Take: CTERA has enhanced its global file system offering with the introduction of CTERA Fusion. The CTERA Fusion functionality provides unified file and object support to the CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform, enhancing its ability as an unstructured data storage platform. With Fusion, CTERA now supports all major unstructured data protocols including NFS, SMB, and S3.
CTERA Fusion provides direct read and write access to CTERA’s Global FS using the S3 protocol. In doing so, it provides greater performance and cost efficiencies by avoiding an additional process of copying data to S3 buckets. The Fusion functionality will also provide greater flexibility to CTERA users to access data how they need by providing a unified, global namespace for all object and file data. Notably, CTERA Fusion object storage is also compatible with all existing CTERA features, including global collaboration capabilities as well as newer features such as CTERA Vault WORM protection and CTERA Ransom Protect.
The support for unified object and file storage is a smart move by CTERA, as it expands CTERA from a file-based solution to a broader platform capable of supporting larger unstructured data requirements. Both file and object storage are crucial for modern unstructured data needs, but organizations might have specific workloads that are best suited for object storage. Object storage, and the S3 protocol, are well suited for creating data lakes and supporting analytics, machine learning (ML), and other classification or data modelling.
The CTERA Fusion capability adds greater flexibility and functionality to CTERA’s existing global file system. The addition of object storage opens the door for CTERA to handle object-based use cases focused on AI, ML, and data modeling while maintaining its traditional global file storage and collaboration capabilities.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Other Insights from The Futurum Group:
CTERA Vault Bolsters Cyber Resiliency and Compliance
Technical Insight: Global File Systems Help Overcome Cloud Challenges
Technical Insight: File Storage Selection – NAS vs Global File Systems
Author Information
Mitch comes to The Futurum Group through the acquisition of the Evaluator Group and is focused on the fast-paced and rapidly evolving areas of cloud computing and data storage. Mitch joined Evaluator Group in 2019 as a Research Associate covering numerous storage technologies and emerging IT trends.
With a passion for all things tech, Mitch brings deep technical knowledge and insight to The Futurum Group’s research by highlighting the latest in data center and information management solutions. Mitch’s coverage has spanned topics including primary and secondary storage, private and public clouds, networking fabrics, and more. With ever changing data technologies and rapidly emerging trends in today’s digital world, Mitch provides valuable insights into the IT landscape for enterprises, IT professionals, and technology enthusiasts alike.
