Unstructured data is growing explosively, presenting both opportunities and challenges for organizations. By 2025, Gartner predicts that 75% of enterprise data will be created and processed at the edge, outside traditional centralized data centers or clouds. This shift is causing companies worldwide to grapple with a range of data-related problems, from cybersecurity threats and compliance issues to the complexities of data sovereignty.
Cybersecurity Challenges in 2024: A Closer Look
Data sovereignty is at the forefront of cybersecurity concerns. Despite efforts by major cloud providers to comply with strict regulations like NIS2, ISO 27001, and GDPR, the landscape remains complex. Organizations handling sensitive data often face hurdles when relying on cloud service providers, particularly concerning data storage location and jurisdiction.
The market is awash with cloud storage solutions, but transferring data to alternative environments can be difficult once it’s integrated into these systems. This can lead to potential vendor lock-ins that hinder innovative hybrid and multi-cloud strategies.
The threat landscape is also evolving. We’re seeing an increase in regional disasters, such as data center fires and earthquakes, which affect service continuity. Simultaneously, ransomware attacks are becoming more sophisticated, targeting both client-side and server-side vulnerabilities with unprecedented precision.
Cost considerations add another layer of complexity. Expansion efforts by cloud providers, involving the construction of new physical sites, not only raise environmental and sustainability concerns but also lead to spiraling costs. Hidden fees imposed by some leading cloud storage providers for egress, 90-day deletion policies, redundancy, and more make cost predictability a significant challenge.
Centralized and Distributed Cloud: What’s New
Cloud solutions offered by hyperscalers might seem widely distributed, but they often rely on a centralized infrastructure. In contrast, distributed cloud storage separates the control plane from the data itself, facilitating data storage across multiple locations and enhancing redundancy and resilience.
This paradigm shift is game-changing for several reasons. It eliminates many traditional barriers, paving the way for robust multi-cloud strategies, and raises flexibility and resilience in data storage and management to a new level.
Benefits of the Distributed Cloud
One of the paramount benefits of the distributed cloud is the unprecedented degree of control it offers. It eradicates the common issue of vendor lock-in and allows organizations to dictate precisely where their data resides. This could mean having parts of your data securely stored in France, Italy, Germany, or any place you want, offering unprecedented levels of redundancy while complying with data localization requirements.
The distributed cloud uniquely meets the need for sovereignty, cost control, and policy management, offering a balanced compromise between the on-premises and public cloud models. It combines the control over IT infrastructure traditionally associated with on-premises storage with the scalability and flexibility of public cloud services.
Applications of the Distributed Cloud
Distributed cloud storage technology is versatile, supporting a wide array of use cases, from backup and disaster recovery to fostering collaboration and housing expansive data lakes for AI and machine learning endeavors. Its architecture, designed to prevent any single point of failure, can ensure up to 15 nines of data durability and minimize the risks of downtime and data breaches.
Lastly, this model optimizes resources by reusing what is already present in the premises of companies and data centers. This extends the storage hardware’s lifespan while reducing carbon footprint and electronic waste, aligning with the growing demand for sustainable IT solutions.