Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup/Recovery

Another object storage supplier is embracing tape. It's Object Matrix and it's following in the footsteps of HDS.

There's an irony here as UK-based Object Matrix, with its MatrixStore product, provides storage on near-line disks for large amounts of tapeless video workflow data.

"Whilst we still believe the economic model afforded by object based, scalable, self-managing clustered storage solutions like MatrixStore enables content to be protected long term on disk, we have also learned from our customers that choice is king. They want and need the choice to put their data on any number of platforms including LTO.”

The product acts as a pre-production or near-line archive, protecting content during the production process and keeping content available on-demand. It has been used since 2006 by broadcast, production, VFX, post-production and creative agency customers.

Object Matrix is partnering with XenData, a tape video archive product company, to present a multi-tiered archive to customers with open standard LTO tape and the LTFS tape filesystem being used. The movement of the data, or objects, from MatrixStore to tape will be managed by a new software module from Object Matrix which is due to be released at IBC in September.

The technical partnership with XenData allows MatrixStore content to be protected in open formats on any number of tape libraries in any number of locations. The new software will:

• Automatically move content from MatrixStore near-line storage to any LTO library supported by XenData
• Have policy based data migration coupled with ‘send now’ functionality both available in v1.0
• Tombstone and Metadata left in MatrixStore to indicate the new location of the data
• Have multiple data protection policies available ensuring content is protected and available where the customer needs it
• Data and metadata migrated to either LTFS or Tar format
• No proprietary formats supported from the near-line storage to tape.

XenData CEO Dr Phil Storey said: "Disk-based storage and LTO tapes are complementary technologies that are ideal for managing the lifecycle of video assets. The team at Object Matrix has developed a [product] that now offloads to near-line LTO and externalised LTO cartridges for long term archiving.”

This digital video asset preservation platform will be exhibited at NAB in Las Vegas between 16 and 19 April. ®

Agentless Backup is Not a Myth