A private geo-cloud for the rest of us
Connected Data has been shipping its Transporter product for a couple of years. Originally aimed at the prosumer market, it supported a disk drive and automatic syncing between two or more units.
The Dropbox-like interface is straightforward: a folder you drop files into. The magic is that your data doesn't go through or onto a third-party server, but directly to your other Transporters, protected by AES-256 encryption.
That security meets HIPAA requirements automatically, unlike even HIPAA-compliant cloud services — and not all are — that put the burden of compliance on you. That's a responsibility few businesses are ready to assume.
What's new
The Transporter Genesis moves up from prosumers to the business market with rackmount configurations offering up to 48GB of capacity, SSD metadata acceleration, Active Directory integration, file versioning and read-only access. Apps for Mac OS X, Windows, iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire are available today.
It is network attached storage with a Dropbox interface. Pricing starts at an MSRP of $9,999.
The Storage Bits take
One of the biggest concerns with the current Dropbox-like cloud storage options are its business models. How long can "free" services stay in business? Its on-again, off-again IPO plans reflect the uncertainty.
But Connected Data has a clear business model which this new announcement extends. It's one less thing to worry about.
Given that you can buy a 5TB disk for about $30/TB, many small offices will be satisfied with the prosumer model. But as the number of users and stored data climbs, the new Transporter Genesis will make sense.
If your business wants the security of geo-distributed storage without the security hassles of a Dropbox — or the recurring charges — give the Transporter a look. CPAs, medical offices, lawyers and other data-intensive, security sensitive businesses will find that its ease of management and Dropbox-like interface works for IT people and end users.
Comments welcome, as always.