Most businesses have heard of cloud storage but haven’t started taking any action towards cloud storage migration. Many CIOs, on one hand are following closely the cloud computing development, on the other hand, are complacent about the existing IT infrastructure and try to avoid disruption to daily operation.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The Disruption

Here is a story about how the cloud storage migration happens. Joe is the CIO of a real estate company. A couple weeks ago, the company tape backup was broken. It was quoted around $1800 to get it fixed. So a disrupted event happened. Joe was following cloud storage solutions closely. Since he needs to do something about the backup, why not switch to a cloud storage based solution for backup.

As Joe went further down the path of finding a solution, he found out that most of the cloud storage solutions have sharing and team collaboration features. Since cloud storage solution offers that, and Joe has two company sites to taken care of, why not use the same cloud storage solution for collaboration and sharing, while fixing the backup.

The Search

Joe came down to a list of solutions, such as Google Drive, SkyDrive, some other online storage solutions and Gladinet. And the last piece of the puzzle is how to fit a Windows 2003 server into the solution. Or another way around, find a solution that works well with the Windows 2003 server.

The Deal Breaker

Joe has an aging Windows File Server 2003, for collaboration inside the local area network. He doesn’t know when the file server will die but the longer he use it, the less infrastructure he needs to touch and less people he needs to re-train. In the case the Windows Server 2003 was good for another 3 years, it provides good buffer time for him to extend the return of the previous investment. If it dies in 3-5 months, the file server content will have already be in cloud for peace of mind.

Google Drive is nice and since the company has switched to Google Apps for email infrastructure, if it works, Google Drive would be a natural fit. However, Google Drive is for client PC such as Win 7 and Windows XP. It doesn’t offer a file server solution.

Same for SkyDrive.

The Solution

At the end, Gladinet is the solution that can be installed directly on the Windows File Server 2003. On one hand, Joe doesn’t need to buy more hardware for the new solution. On the other hand, Joe can sync the file server content over to cloud for backup purpose and extent the life of the Windows 2003 server. Joe was also happy to see Gladinet Cloud supports his own Amazon S3 buckets so he maintains full control of the data. 

The Gladinet Solution

Gladinet Cloud stands out in this case, because of the following features.

(1) The ability to install on existing file server and backup/sync the content to cloud.

(2) The ability to plug in Amazon S3 Bucket so allowing Joe to have more control of where data sits.

Now Joe solved the backup problem, and by the way, acquired additional benefits of cross-site collaboration that comes with cloud storage solution.

For more information. Click the following link:

http://www.gladinet.com/CloudServer/