can i replicate my storage array data directly into cloud without any host involved

Question

1. Is it possible that my storage array data which is my org premises is able to replicate the data into a cloud storage object. Also can i get the status of the replication stating the percentage completion etc.

2. Also is the reverse operation possible that i am able to replicate the cloud storage object data onto my local array.

3. In case of a local array failure then i should be able to access the data from cloud storage object if it's consistent from the host in my microsoft cluster.

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sk

Answer 1

Can you tell what kind of data it is that your application uses? Is it SQL data or Blobs? How is it currently accessed? Are there any dependencies on the local file system?

Answer 2

It is a raw data present in array which has to be transferred using block based interfaces like SCSI. Host is interested in data whichever mode may be the access whether it comes from SAN disk or using blobs.

I have read somewhere that block based interfaces can be converted to SOAP/REST (cloud protocols ) using the some cloud storage gateway devices.

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sk

Answer 3

Azure Blob Storage is what you're looking for, allowing you to access the raw storage layer in block or page based manner using REST based protocol.

However I'm not aware of any Storage Array products which ootb allow integration of Azure/cloud based storage as part of the online array or enabling replication for such. There are some solutions for backup/DR, such as this case sudy talks about http://blogs.msdn.com/b/usisvde/archive/2011/12/22/isv-case-study-cloud-storage-gateway-provides-backup-into-windows-azure.aspx.

Azure provides the interfaces but you may either reach out to the various device vendors checking for support or build something on your own (which I doubt you wanna do)

Answer 4

If I understand correctly, StorSimple may do exactly what the original poster wants.