Global file systems sit at the intersection of two major IT trends, as workers increasingly move outside a central office and enterprises strive to create a public cloud-like experience in buying and using storage.
In a 2021 Evaluator Group hybrid cloud survey, respondents ranked shared file services as the No. 1 workload deployed in hybrid clouds, and listed delivering a public cloud experience as their top objective.
A Global File System is a file-based storage solution that uses central cloud-based storage in conjunction with intelligent caching technology at the edge. Vendors who offer this include CTERA, Hammerspace, LucidLink, Nasuni, Netapp’s Cloud Volumes Edge Cache, and Panzura. These global file systems enable collaboration across geographically dispersed sites while taking advantage of public cloud object storage.
Global File Systems have been referred to by various names within the storage industry, including Cloud NAS, Hybrid Cloud Storage System, Cloud Native File System, Distributed Cloud File System, and others. The imprecise naming convention leads to confusion regarding the utility of the technology; however, the solutions can be distinguished by a set of common characteristics.
This session will look at what a true Global File System is, how it works and how it can provide an alternative – or a complement – to traditional NAS. We will look at the vendor options, where the technology fits in a modern IT department and how it can help overcome obstacles to achieving a cloud-like experience.
