We are constantly looking for cloud vendors that fit our strategy for storage and backup solutions. Recently the choice fell on Nakivo and Wasabi. In an interview with ITchannelPRO, Barber Brinkman and Bob Hoefsloot talk about the choice of these two companies. Real Solutions Haarlem (RSH) has been growing for years in the area of physical hardware, NAS and storage products, but until now cloud functionalities were missing from the portfolio. However, it was unmentionable to simply add a service without having the people and knowledge to do so. Now that the company has that in place, Barber says it is time to "bring the cloud inside.
"Our customers generally use the NAS as a primary storage solution and/or as a backup. A good backup strategy naturally also requires a cloud solution. Our main supplier Synology provides cloud storage under the name C2 Storage, but this platform is only intended for Synology customers. Moreover, it is not really suitable for larger data sets," Barber knows. "In addition, that basic service lacks some important features, such as mass deployment and active monitoring. That requires an advanced subscription."
Synology and Qnap, two of the brands RSH carries, partner with cloud storage providers. The apps from those companies are in the stores of the two or even pre-installed on the NAS hardware. Nakivo is a cloud storage company that is thus part of a NAS ecosystem. Barber: "We added backup & recovery software licensing to our portfolio earlier this year. Then we started looking at what other solutions could be easily integrated with NAS. We ended up with these two new partners." The cloud solutions from AWS, MS Azure and Google are too complex and less suitable for specific NAS environments for many business owners. In addition, storage, service and API integration costs are high and often there are additional costs for data transfers.
Simple and affordable
Wasabi Hot Cloud storage in that respect is a much more interesting proposition for RSH and its customers. Wasabi provides simple, predictable and affordable hot cloud storage for businesses worldwide. Organizations can store an unlimited amount of data and get instant access at one-fifth the price of the competition, without complex tiers or unpredictable outbound costs. "In addition to those pluses, there's something else that impressed us greatly and led to us partnering," said Bob Hoefsloot, owner of RSH. "Wasabi, in fact, has a data center in Amsterdam. That is quite an important advantage it in view of the AVG requirements for data storage. They also guarantee 99.99 percent uptime (11×9) and have clear SLAs. These are all points that we and the Dutch market find really important."
Wasabi rollout EMEA
The partnership between RSH and Wasabi will begin as the cloud provider begins rolling out services across EMEA. In signing the deal, Richard Czech, Wasabi's VP of EMEA Sales, spoke of growing global demand for hot cloud storage and the need to meet data sovereignty requirements. He added that "Real Solutions Haarlem will be a crucial partner in achieving our mission. Not only are they the largest NAS distributor in the Benelux that focuses solely on storage, they also sell compatible vendors such as Nakivo. This allows us to deliver the benefits of our joint solutions to the Benelux market."
Reseller portal
The Wasabi solution offered by Real Solutions is intended for resellers. Those can request their own Wasabi portal. After activation of the account, partners can test for 30 days how Wasabi best suits their portfolio. During that test phase, there is also already support from RSH, for those who need it. Within the Wasabi environment, storage is available by default in blocks of 25TB. RSH divides that into smaller capacities. Resellers can already start with 5TB or 10TB and then easily expand to 50TB to 100TB. Optionally, even 250TB, 500TB and 1PB can be requested. The data customers store can be automatically encrypted, for both the transit and storage phases. Wasabi also offers immutable storage. That is the ability to store data without allowing it to be modified or manipulated by others. This provides additional security for ransomware attacks and other risks. Customers also control the physical location of data at the country level.
It doesn't stop at Wasabi
Bob and Barber are excited about Wasabi's offering. Says Barber, "It is certified for and compatible with our NAS products. We are offering the channel a solution that is in increasing demand." In closing, Bob lifts a tip of the shutter. "It doesn't stop there. We are busy behind the scenes with another collaboration. With a third cloud solution in the portfolio, we are offering the channel even more choice to make NAS storage a successful hybrid cloud storage."
Need advice?
We are happy to think with you, please call 088 927 72 77 or email to sales@rshaarlem.com.