The News: Pure Storage invests in the ceramic-based data storage company Cerabyte and Pure’s Chief Visionary Officer has joined the Cerabyte board of directors. Additional details are available in the company’s press release.
Pure Storage Invests in Ceramic Data Storage Company, Cerabyte
Analyst Take: Cerabyte has developed what it calls ceramic-based data storage, which involves using laser etching to encode data onto a ceramic-coated glass substrate. A glass substrate is coated with a thin layer of ceramic material. A high-powered laser is then used to create microscopic patterns in the ceramic coating, representing binary data. To retrieve data, the ceramic surface is scanned using a high-speed camera, which interprets the pattern of holes as binary data.
The technology is inherently sustainable, because it does not rely on rare earth materials, and because it consumes minimal power compared to conventional storage methods. It also allows a high degree of data density (allowing for large amounts of data to be stored in a small physical space). Data copies are automatically immutable, which is essential for compliance, security, and long-term data preservation. With this in mind, the technology addresses emerging data storage requirements for cyber-resiliency, as well as the need to protect large and growing volumes of data, for example, created by the growing number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Cerabyte complements Pure’s focus on all-flash storage with a storage technology geared toward a different stage of the data lifecycle – long-term data retention and archiving. From this standpoint, it is notable that Cerabyte resists both bit rot and silent corruption, supporting data integrity over time. What’s more, Cerabyte’s intrinsic immutability enhances Pure’s efforts around resiliency of data against cyber attacks.
Cerabyte itself and the investment by Pure Storage reflect the need for cost-effective and sustainable storage solutions to address enterprise customers’ vastly growing volumes of data, including for the long-term retention use cases increasingly mandated by regulatory bodies and business requirements. From that standpoint, it is relevant to note that the Cerabyte team will reside in Boulder, Colorado – where much of long-term data storage technologies have been developed.
This announcement also reflects the need for long-term, immutable data copies to address data security and resiliency as cyberattacks continue to grow more prominent and sophisticated. The need to have a disconnected, tamper-proof data copy for recovering from a cyberattack has given rise in recent years to demand for tape storage solutions, and alternative options such as cloud-hosted data vaults that offer benefits such as potentially faster recovery speeds or lower TCO. Cerabyte warrants evaluation as a potential replacement for, or alternative to, tape with the control of an on-premises deployment, cost efficiency, and, according to Cerabyte, fast read and write performance.
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.
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Author Information
With a focus on data security, protection, and management, Krista has a particular focus on how these strategies play out in multi-cloud environments. She brings approximately 15 years of experience providing research and advisory services and creating thought leadership content. Her vantage point spans technology and vendor portfolio developments; customer buying behavior trends; and vendor ecosystems, go-to-market positioning, and business models. Her work has appeared in major publications including eWeek, TechTarget and The Register.
Prior to joining The Futurum Group, Krista led the data protection practice for Evaluator Group and the data center practice of analyst firm Technology Business Research. She also created articles, product analyses, and blogs on all things storage and data protection and management for analyst firm Storage Switzerland and led market intelligence initiatives for media company TechTarget.
