Data Protection & AI Storage Data Protection & AI Storage

Protect AI data
economically and securely

Store backup, archive and AI/ML data economically on-premises, unified with the cloud under a single namespace. Go beyond the limits of NAS with Cloudian HyperStore.

Request a Storage Consultation View Resources
Related Products
CloudianCloudian
WHY DATA PROTECTION

Why AI storage & data protection, now?

As unstructured data — AI/ML, video, backup, archive — grows more than 40% every year, legacy NAS/SAN-centric storage architecture is hitting its limits on cost, scalability and operational complexity all at once. Public cloud S3 is convenient, but the bill grows exponentially as data piles up, and domestic data sovereignty and privacy compliance become an added burden. On top of that, ransomware now encrypts and deletes backup data too, shattering the comfortable belief that "having a backup is enough."

Expernet's Data Protection & AI Storage solution is built around Cloudian HyperStore, a 100% AWS S3-compatible on-premises object storage platform, unifying on-premises and public cloud under a single namespace. It scales non-disruptively to exabyte scale, protects backups from ransomware with Object Lock (WORM)-based immutable storage, and optimizes cost with automatic tiering.

As a Cloudian Authorized Partner, Expernet holds multiple HyperStore deployment and operations references across finance, broadcasting and public-sector customers. We provide sizing, design and operational support tailored to your data strategy — backup storage modernization, media/broadcast archives, AI data lake construction and legacy NAS migration.

CHALLENGES

Common struggles for data owners

With data growing more than 40% every year, legacy storage infrastructure hits its limits.

NAS capacity ceilings, again and again
Managing hundreds of terabytes of backup and archive data on NAS requires costly new hardware with every expansion — growth never keeps pace with data.
Ransomware infecting backup data
Ransomware increasingly encrypts network-shared backups too. Once backup data is infected, recovery becomes impossible.
Public cloud storage costs spiraling
Storing tens of terabytes on AWS S3 or Azure Blob runs to tens of thousands of dollars a month, with egress fees pushing budgets even further over.
Backup restore time exceeding RTO
Tape-based archives can take over a day just to test a restore. Disaster recovery misses RTO targets, threatening business continuity.
No infrastructure for AI/ML training data
There is no efficient infrastructure to store and version tens of terabytes of unstructured data (images, video, logs) needed for AI projects.
Long-term regulatory retention obligations
Finance, healthcare and public agencies must retain electronic documents unaltered for 10+ years — hard to implement WORM policy on legacy storage.
WHY OBJECT STORAGE

On-premises object storage —
instead of NAS, tape or public cloud

vs NAS

70% lower cost per capacity than NAS. Linear petabyte-scale expansion by simply adding nodes. Direct integration with cloud apps via S3 API.

vs Tape

20x faster recovery than tape. Instant restore via online access. Random read/write shortens ransomware-recovery RTO.

vs Public Cloud

50–70% lower TCO than AWS S3. No egress fees. Full data sovereignty. No compliance headaches — supports GDPR and privacy law.

+ Hybrid Extension

Manage on-premises hot/warm data and cloud cold data under a single namespace. Automatic tiering via lifecycle policy.

SOLUTION

Solved with Cloudian HyperStore

A fully S3-compatible on-premises object storage platform — expansion, protection and cost optimization on a single platform.

S3 Compatible

Fully S3-compatible — no code changes

100% AWS S3 API support. Use SDKs, CLIs and third-party tools as-is. Run existing S3-based applications on-premises without modifying a single line of code.

Scale-Out

Linear petabyte-scale expansion

Start with as few as 3 nodes and expand capacity and performance simply by adding nodes. Non-disruptive scale-out keeps the same platform from tens of terabytes to exabytes.

WORM / Object Lock

S3 Object Lock — immutable storage

Blocks deletion and modification for a designated retention period. Even if ransomware gains access, WORM-locked objects cannot be encrypted or deleted. Meets finance, healthcare and public-sector compliance.

Auto Tiering

Automatic hybrid-cloud tiering

Lifecycle policy automatically moves cold data to AWS S3 Glacier, Azure Blob or GCP Coldline. Manage on-premises and cloud under a single unified namespace.

Veeam / Commvault

Native integration with major backup solutions

Direct S3 integration with Veeam, Commvault, Veritas NetBackup and Rubrik. Use HyperStore as a backup target immediately, without a separate gateway — keep your existing backup infrastructure.

HyperIQ

Storage analytics & multi-tenancy

Visualize usage, performance and cost on a real-time dashboard. Supports per-department/project tenant separation and usage-based chargeback. Automated capacity planning optimizes operating cost.

View Cloudian product details →

HyperStore data protection pipeline

1
Data Collection · Ingest
Backup · archive · AI/ML · media · logs
2
S3 Object Storage
100% AWS S3 compatible · multi-tenant isolation
3
WORM Object Lock Applied
Immutable retention · ransomware defense · compliance
4
Automatic Lifecycle Tiering
Auto-migrate hot→warm→cold · cloud integration
5
Recovery · Access · Analytics
Instant restore · S3 API · HyperIQ dashboard
70%
TCO reduction (vs NAS)
EB scale
Linear expansion
WORM
Ransomware defense
20x
Faster recovery vs tape
USE CASES

Deployment Use Cases by Industry

Broadcasting & Media

4K/8K master video archive

Problem Problem

Hundreds of terabytes of broadcast masters managed on NAS hit capacity limits, with storage costs rising sharply year over year.

Solution Solution

Deployed HyperStore S3 object storage integrated with the MAM (media asset management) system via S3 API, with 90-day-idle files auto-tiered to the cloud.

Result Result
✓60% TCO reduction
✓Achieved petabyte-scale expansion
✓Non-disruptive MAM system integration
Finance & Insurance

Long-term electronic document WORM archive

Problem Problem

Financial Supervisory Service requires 10+ year retention of electronic documents; legacy tape restore took too long and had no WORM support.

Solution Solution

Implemented an unalterable archive with HyperStore WORM + S3 Object Lock, with automated backup and long-term retention policy via Veeam integration.

Result Result
✓100% regulatory compliance achieved
✓20x faster recovery speed
✓40% lower annual operating cost
AI & Data Analytics

AI/ML training data lake

Problem Problem

Tens of terabytes of images, video and log data for AI model training were scattered on file servers with no version control or access management.

Solution Solution

Built an S3-compatible data lake with HyperStore, using per-bucket access control (IAM), versioning and multi-tenancy for team-level separation.

Result Result
✓5x faster training data access
✓Zero data version conflicts
✓Accurate per-team usage chargeback
IMPACT

Business Impact

The outcomes you can expect from a Cloudian HyperStore deployment.

70%
Storage TCO reduction
70% lower cost per capacity than NAS, with no egress fees on on-premises object storage.
EB scale
Linear expansion
Non-disruptive expansion from petabytes to exabytes by simply adding nodes.
WORM
Ransomware defense
S3 Object Lock blocks modification and deletion at the source.
20x
Faster recovery
20x faster online recovery compared to tape.
S3 100%
Fully compatible
Use AWS S3 SDKs, CLIs and apps as-is, with no code changes.
HyperStore is on-premises object storage that fully supports the AWS S3 API. It uses the same S3 API as the public-cloud AWS S3, but because it runs in your own data center, it offers data sovereignty, no egress fees and predictable TCO.
Not necessarily. NAS remains well-suited to structured file sharing (NFS/CIFS). Object storage is often introduced to complement NAS for storing hundreds of terabytes or more of unstructured data.
Yes. It supports direct S3 API integration with major backup solutions including Veeam, Commvault, Veritas NetBackup and Rubrik. You can designate HyperStore as a backup target directly, without a separate S3 gateway.
Enabling S3 Object Lock (WORM) on HyperStore blocks deletion and modification for a designated retention period. Even if ransomware gains access, WORM-locked objects cannot be encrypted or deleted.
Start with as few as 3 nodes (typically tens of terabytes), and capacity and performance scale linearly as you add nodes. There is no service interruption during expansion, and the same platform is used from small tens-of-terabytes deployments up to exabyte scale.
Through HyperStore's lifecycle policy, objects are automatically migrated to AWS S3 Glacier, Azure Blob Cold Tier or GCP Coldline based on days since last access.

Free storage assessment consultation

We'll analyze your current storage environment and propose a TCO-reduction roadmap.
Cloudian HyperStore PoC (proof of concept) support is also available.

Request a Consultation