Victor Chiang, General ManagerNot anymore.
Cloud makes the implementation of AI, cheaper. Notably, the past decade has been a relief for decision-makers fretting over in-house hardware investments to accommodate data expansion—the advent of cloud infrastructure has eased the storage anxieties among CEOs worldwide. However, General Manager of Infortrend Europe Ltd, Victor Chiang, believes that performance, bandwidth and security are a few common cloud infrastructure challenges that enterprises often overlook while choosing to tread the virtualisation path.
Performance, a measure of the current data transfer speed, is significantly dependent on the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and can dampen data migration to the cloud. The complexity of cybersecurity attacks and latency are additional hurdles that organisations should inspect during cloud adoption.
Infortrend’s motive is to help organisations that intend to leverage cloud but have not been able to, exploit the benefits of virtual storage models to the fullest. Most importantly, they aim to assist clients that have overlooked the challenges of virtualisation, overwhelmed by its many benefits. The industry veteran opines that effective utilisation of on-premise private storage infrastructure is necessary, should be widely followed since it is complementary to the cloud, and accelerates local access performance. Chiang adds that the adoption of a hybrid storage model is ideal for any enterprise seeking secure virtual storage and fast access.
The Journey
“Infortrend delivers enterprise-class unified storage that integrates SAN, NAS and cloud gateway to pave the way for a hybrid cloud model that amplifies performance and mitigates the fundamental challenges of cloud adoption,” mentions Chiang. The organisation started its journey as an enterprise storage controller manufacturer and evolved into a holistic cloud solution provider. During its early days, the organisation observed that many of its clients were in pursuit of solutions that helped them store data off-premise and shun private data centres. Although the need for an infrastructure that seamlessly accommodates exponential data growth led to the advent of the cloud, industry veterans faced many issues associated with its utilisation, which many service providers couldn’t mitigate.
EonCloud Gateway—the Storage Game Changer
Infortrend designed a cutting-edge product named EonStor GSc Hybrid Cloud Appliance to streamline cloud deployment and access.
It mitigates several cloud utilisation challenges namely slow data access, internet dependency, incompatibility with existing IT environment and a wide range of security concerns.
This unique product, comprising the EonCloud Gateway includes nodes that bridge an enterprise’s existing environment with popular cloud infrastructure supplier such as AWS and Microsoft Azure. Infortrend’s holistic cloud solution suite includes OpenStack, a ubiquitous, open source cloud computing platform, tailored to address the needs of a private cloud data centre. The organisation also renders backup and delivery as well as storage solutions that enable deployment of AI-powered applications seamlessly in a faster and more straightforward manner. One of the pivotal components of the EonStor GSc is a robust dual controller to ensure there’s no single point of failure unlike the products delivered by most cloud solution providers. The hardware of Infortrend’s product suite is designed to provide high data reliability and agility factors most enterprises look for in vendor firms. Infortrend’s talented team includes in-house design experts and members dedicated towards testing and even manufacturing. Thus, its resource pool empowered with diverse capabilities has been able to accomplish user-friendly data services, performance, scalability as well as after-sales support that adheres with current expectation benchmarks and remains unmatched.
Infortrend’s Unique Client Servicing Approach
Chiang illustrates the capabilities of his firm better by stating the example of a client belonging to the surveillance domain. The desired solution was a storage mechanism that captures and uploads the footage recorded at every junction of the road. The solution was targeted at end users who frequently uploaded data to control centres, which eventually had to be synchronized with the cloud. Empowered with AI and analytics capabilities that help users derive useful insights from their data volumes, EonStor GSc could effectively accomplish the client’s demands. By devising this solution, Infortrend also sets an example to prove how a hybrid storage model can be useful in meeting an organisation’s storage needs. The myriad benefits experienced by the client as a result of the implementation were an enhancement in performance and easy synchronisation with cloud among many others.
Generally, the organisation implements a proof-of-concept prototype on the client’s premise and adds more capabilities to the solution over a series of iterations, rather than adhere to a big bang approach.
The firm’s dedicated team of engineers and R&D experts work with clients in an agile fashion and support future upgrades effortlessly. The organisation has also left no stone unturned to ensure that the storage solutions being offered are futuristic and can seamlessly integrate the latest hardware components.
Over the past 25 years, the organisation has successfully addressed the needs of government, education, finance, media and entertainment, surveillance and healthcare realms
Infortrend’s Unique Client Servicing Approach
Chiang illustrates the capabilities of his firm better by stating the example of a client belonging to the surveillance domain. The desired solution was a storage mechanism that captures and uploads the footage recorded at every junction of the road. The solution was targeted at end users who frequently uploaded data to control centres, which eventually had to be synchronized with the cloud. Empowered with AI and analytics capabilities that help users derive useful insights from their data volumes, EonStor GSc could effectively accomplish the client’s demands. By devising this solution, Infortrend also sets an example to prove how a hybrid storage model can be useful in meeting an organisation’s storage needs. The myriad benefits experienced by the client as a result of the implementation were an enhancement in performance and easy synchronisation with cloud among many others.
Generally, the organisation implements a proof-of-concept prototype on the client’s premise and adds more capabilities to the solution over a series of iterations, rather than adhere to a big bang approach.
The firm’s dedicated team of engineers and R&D experts work with clients in an agile fashion and support future upgrades effortlessly. The organisation has also left no stone unturned to ensure that the storage solutions being offered are futuristic and can seamlessly integrate the latest hardware components.
For instance, if the organisation has been utilising 10GbE optic cables for a long time and intends to shun them to make way for 100 GbE ones eventually, Infortrend’s solutions can seamlessly accommodate the change. There have been numerous instances of a host provider’s adapter being upgraded for better speed, and EonStor GSc has been accommodative, which makes it much more reliable compared to the other platforms available today. The benefit of the EonCloud Gateway is that it facilitates virtual storage with the several advantages associated with private data centres. EonStor GSc on-premise storage service allows faster access since vital data is accessible with access control, over a local network.
Similarly, since the storage is confined to a closed network and not widely available to the public, the data is far more secure as compared to other public storage platforms. EonStor GSc is designed considering the common need of most organisations to capitalise on the myriad benefits of both on-premise as well as off-premise storage. As far as on-premise is concerned, EonStor GSc can be installed as a hardware appliance in a tiny server room inside a building and simultaneously also establish a connection with a cloud supplier(?).
Over the past 25 years, the organization has successfully addressed the needs of government, education, finance, media and entertainment, and surveillance as well as healthcare realms. Apart from striving to deliver sophisticated cloud solutions and adhering to client demands, Infortrend also ensures its products comply with global benchmarks as well as the environment and health and safety guidelines.
The Path Ahead
Infortrend has partnered with several renowned organisations world over. The organisation’s alliance partners are mostly leading-edge component suppliers, and vertical market application software vendors. To keep pace with exponential data growth, Infortrend plans to enhance its cloud connect data services and devise a long-term data retention policy in the days to come. To mitigate the challenges posed by data growth, the company is relentlessly working towards the enhancement of compression and data deduplication algorithms. The organisation’s talented resource pool comprises research and development teams exclusively engrossed with tasks such as SSD read caching and devising better data protection mechanisms.
"The organisation has also left no stone unturned to ensure that the storage solutions being offered are future proof"
Infortrend have been consistently listed on Gartner’s past few Magic Quadrant reports, which bears testimony to the rapid strides they have made in a short period. “We’ll put our best foot forward to enhance EonCloud Gateway further to help our clients extract the benefits of the cloud infrastructure in the days to come. The next few months will also see Infortrend collaborate with potential partner firms to deliver holistic surveillance solutions,” adds Chiang, revealing the company’s vision for the future. Infortrend also aims to introduce other storage products to the market quite soon, which will be additions to its existing suite and devise new ways to bridge local storage appliances with the cloud infrastructure. As far as geographic expansion plans are concerned, the company intends to establish its footprint across Europe and the EMEA region in the days to come. Infortrend recently opened an office in Germany, which seems to be the first sign of its planned expansion spree.
Similarly, since the storage is confined to a closed network and not widely available to the public, the data is far more secure as compared to other public storage platforms. EonStor GSc is designed considering the common need of most organisations to capitalise on the myriad benefits of both on-premise as well as off-premise storage. As far as on-premise is concerned, EonStor GSc can be installed as a hardware appliance in a tiny server room inside a building and simultaneously also establish a connection with a cloud supplier(?).
Over the past 25 years, the organization has successfully addressed the needs of government, education, finance, media and entertainment, and surveillance as well as healthcare realms. Apart from striving to deliver sophisticated cloud solutions and adhering to client demands, Infortrend also ensures its products comply with global benchmarks as well as the environment and health and safety guidelines.
The Path Ahead
Infortrend has partnered with several renowned organisations world over. The organisation’s alliance partners are mostly leading-edge component suppliers, and vertical market application software vendors. To keep pace with exponential data growth, Infortrend plans to enhance its cloud connect data services and devise a long-term data retention policy in the days to come. To mitigate the challenges posed by data growth, the company is relentlessly working towards the enhancement of compression and data deduplication algorithms. The organisation’s talented resource pool comprises research and development teams exclusively engrossed with tasks such as SSD read caching and devising better data protection mechanisms.
"The organisation has also left no stone unturned to ensure that the storage solutions being offered are future proof"
Infortrend have been consistently listed on Gartner’s past few Magic Quadrant reports, which bears testimony to the rapid strides they have made in a short period. “We’ll put our best foot forward to enhance EonCloud Gateway further to help our clients extract the benefits of the cloud infrastructure in the days to come. The next few months will also see Infortrend collaborate with potential partner firms to deliver holistic surveillance solutions,” adds Chiang, revealing the company’s vision for the future. Infortrend also aims to introduce other storage products to the market quite soon, which will be additions to its existing suite and devise new ways to bridge local storage appliances with the cloud infrastructure. As far as geographic expansion plans are concerned, the company intends to establish its footprint across Europe and the EMEA region in the days to come. Infortrend recently opened an office in Germany, which seems to be the first sign of its planned expansion spree.
March 25, 2019
Infortrend News
Infortrend Signs a New Distribution Agreement with CMS Distribution
FREMONT, CA: Infortrend, a pure-play enterprise data storage solution provider, has announced a new distribution agreement with CMS Distribution. This new agreement with CMS will provide Infortrend a platform to reach more enterprise resellers to assist them in addressing more markets. Infortrend has twenty-five years of history in delivering the highest quality product and services Read More
Infortrend Launches EonStor GSi Featuring Best AI Storage Solutions
FREMONT, CA: A storage solution is a must for all enterprises and business in the data business. One of the key utility they require is an efficient storage system that can store, process, analyze and identify relevant data that can be useful for the business. The induction of an intelligent Artificial Intelligence (AI) storage product into this foray will enable the data to be better processed. Read More
Infortrend Introduces Award-Winning 25 GbE Solutions for High-Speed Workloads
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New innovation such as HD video, AI, and big data applications requires a bigger and better bandwidth, and 10 GbE cannot accommodate the network stresses. Compared with 10 GbE, 25 GbE provides 2.5x bandwidth, higher port density, better cost per gigabit, and lower power consumption. The 25 GbE is, to be expected, the new standard for the next-gen storage and server solutions such as core layers of data centers, HD media workflow, and cloud computing which caters to the needs in data speed, performance, and rack density.
In addition, 25 GbE is the most future-proof connectivity because it features backward compatibility with 10 GbE and a seamless transition to 100 GbE network. According to the IEEE, 100GbE standard is based on four 25 GbE lanes. The trend towards 100GbE infrastructure will accelerate the adoption of 25GbE technology.
To respond to the standard transition and increasing requirements, Infortrend has introduced 25 GbE connectivity into its mainstream product portfolios such as EonStor DS, EonStor GS, EonStor GSa, EonStor GSc, and EonStor GSe. At NAB 2019, Infortrend presented EonStor GSa all-flash storage with two 25 GbE ports per host board to show the lightning speed and efficiency of handling 8K DPX streams and was well received with the Best of Show Award.
“We are proud to provide comprehensive networking options to benefit our customers. With two 25 GbE ports per host board, our storage solution can support up to 50 GbE capability to handle high speed workloads. Along with the availability of 1/10/40 GbE solutions and up to 32 FC (Fibre Channel) interface, we empower customers with flexible configurations and optimized investment and performance,” said Thomas Kao, Senior Director of Product Planning.