Sail on SpectraLogic's BlackPearl, right up into the cloudy glory

Replication and cloud backends extend disk'n'tape combo for off-premises use

SpectraLogic has added replication and a cloud gateway to its BlackPearl disk and tape storage combo.

Where large-scale content providers need to store their relatively unstructured content (videos, etc) on a tiered disk and tape system for fast front-end disk access and low-cost long-term back-end tape, then BlackPearl provides a single object storage system, called deep storage, encompassing both.

It uses a RESTful Amazon S3 interface and so Spectra has added public cloud storage as an alternative to LTFS tape or the ArcticBlue nearline disk store for longer-term storage. Data can be moved between the public cloud and on-premises BlackPearl kit.

The latest BlackPearl version can asynchronously replicate its contents to a second BlackPearl system as a disaster recovery measure. The two systems have an active:active design and so can take over for each other should one fail.

BlackPearl can also automatically move online content to nearline disk (ArcticBlue with powered-down, shingled drives) and to tape with a time-based feature.

BlackPearl componentry

A BlackPearl Certification Program verifies that overall product systems using BlackPearl, with front-end application software tools for example, are robust and reliable, with testing carried out at a lab at Spectra's Colorado HQ to verify that data workflows across multiple vendors' components work as they should.

BlackPearl and Quantum's StorNext are both finding favour as multi-tier content management systems in the media and entertainment industry, and also genomics and healthcare, general IT management, high-performance computing, research and education and video surveillance. ®