Rubrik’s latest software update, Alta 4.2, extends native data management and protection to more cloud-native workloads — specifically Amazon Web Services EC2 workloads — and traditional IBM AIX and Oracle Solaris environments. It also further integrates VMware vCloud director automation and management software with Rubrik’s Cloud Data Management platform.
This means enterprises can use the same software-defined storage and data management platform across multiple public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises data center workloads as they adopt hybrid cloud strategies.
“This release is oriented toward all of the complexity and pain around hybrid cloud,” said Chris Wahl, chief technologist at Rubrik, adding that the update targets channel partners, enterprise customers, and management service providers.
“The idea is to take all of the pain points experienced with traditional applications such as Solaris and AIX and offer data management and protection,” he said. “And we can inventory all of customers’ EC2 instances, we can protect them and provide lifecycle management with the same core features and same user experience that customers are already used to with Rubrik. They don’t have to add software or do anything extra.”
The company’s Cloud Data Management platform already supported AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform public clouds; VMware, Hyper-V, and Nutanix AHV virtualized environments; operating systems including Unix, Linux, Windows, Oracle, network attached storage (NAS) systems; and NoSQL databases like Casandra and MongoDB.
Adding IBM AIX and Oracle Solaris to its software-defined storage product enables customers to use the same data management tools they already use for these other public- and private-cloud based workloads, and also lets them migrate some of these workloads to public cloud in hours.
Secondary-Storage Market Heats Up
The Cloud Data Management platform is Rubrik’s flagship product. Today’s updates come about two months after the company launched its second product, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for data management applications.
It also follows a flurry of product updates and a $250 million funding round for Cohesity, Rubrik’s primary competitor. When asked what differentiates Rubrik from its fellow secondary-storage startup, Wahl said it’s his company’s hybrid cloud approach.
“The uniform answer I get back [from customers] is we’re feeling pain, especially when it comes to data protection. Plus 32 percent of people are frustrated trying to pursue a hybrid cloud strategy,” he said, citing a May report from Gartner that found almost a third of IT leaders said developing a hybrid cloud strategy is the biggest data center challenge they face.
“That’s where 4.2 comes in,” Wahl said. “It makes hybrid cloud tangible so it’s an offering you can actually wrap your arms around.”
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