Storage Magazine: tell us more about Object Archive and how it differs from other solutions and what advantages you feel it might offer.

Richard Alderson:Object Archive is an archive solution which creates a synergy between hard disk and tape technology by acting as an S3 bridge between hard disk and tape. The main differences to other solutions are:

• Object Archive has been developed in house by FUJIFILM and we developed our own tape writing format, which is an open format called 'OTformat' that is specifically designed for saving objects on tape
• It has a free-and-easy exit strategy, with no vendor lock-in, and offers a scalable performance for users in all industries, such as the government administration, managed service providers, financial and scientific sectors
• It works with most brands of tape hardware, giving freedom of choice to the end user.

ST: In these straitened times, costs are always on the minds of organisations when deploying solutions. Object Archive is said to reduce recurring storage fees and expensive egress fees of cloud storage. Exactly how does it achieve this, and can these savings be monitored and validated by users in real time?

RA: As mentioned, there is no vendor lock-in and therefore no exit fee. Also, all data is stored on tape, which is the most cost-effective method for the long-term storage of archived data.

ST: Object Archive uses S3-compatible APIs for data operations to enable what is said to be "easy and seamless integration" with existing object storage platforms and data applications. Can you explain how that works - and is anything ever really seamless?

RA: Object Archive works with hard disk, other object storage solutions, including Cloudian, Datacore and Netapp, and can also be used with other solutions, such as Ceph and Dell ECS, when using a datamover. For most day-to-day data usage, it is possible to manage data stored in tape through the object storage GUI.

ST: The solution that you've launched is also said to 'create an air-gap' between archived data and your network, in order to enforce security. How does that work in practice and what are the biggest paybacks?

RA: Tape technology is the most secure way to store long-term data and naturally creates an air gap solution, because it is removable. By removing tape, your data is isolated from any other device and therefore it minimises the vulnerability to cyber-attacks or hacking. Furthermore, with LTO9 tape media data can be archived for up to 50 years, so your data will still be readable up to 2072.

ST: Computational science relies on enormous banks of data to solve challenging problems with the power of computer analytics. So our wrap-up question for this Q&A is: In what ways will Object Archive help that cause?

RA: As well as data security and the air gap, Object Archive has an impact cost Savings, as it gives the ability to reduce the amount of hard disk required, which can help users to reduce their energy consumption.

What we really need to ask is: are we on the edge of a new era? As costs continue to dramatically increase, businesses need to ensure their data is protected against cyber-attacks and disasters, is stored in a sustainable way and that it is accessible for years to come. Object Archive addresses all of these concerns and is a big step forward in the world of data archiving.

More info: datastorage-na.fujifilm.com/object-archive/