StorSimple announced availability of its enterprise cloud storage for the OpenStack ecosystem. As part of this support, StorSimple is updating its enterprise cloud storage appliances to integrate with Rackspace Cloud Files as its first OpenStack integration.

Rackspace Cloud Files is an OpenStack-based service that provides easy to use, on-demand online storage for files and media. As a Microsoft Certified and VMWare Ready cloud storage appliance integrating with the Cloud Files service, the StorSimple Appliance gives customers full benefits of cloud integrated enterprise storage with the Rackspace cloud. By using the StorSimple Appliance, Rackspace customers will be able to receive primary storage, backup storage, archival storage and a disaster recovery solution with high performance and additional security features in the cloud with a single device.

"The storage appliance for Rackspace Cloud Files offered by StorSimple is great news for our customers," said Ven Shanmugam, Senior Manager, Strategy and Corporate Development, at Rackspace. "The StorSimple Appliance gives Rackspace customers a storage solution that enables them to use the Rackspace Cloud Files for primary, backup, archive and replicated storage without any changes to existing infrastructures."

The StorSimple Appliance automatically tiers deduplicated, compressed data into the Rackspace(R) Cloud Files service. StorSimple brings to Rackspace customers additional security features in the cloud, with data encryption and on-premise key management. In addition, features such as Cloud Snapshots and Cloud Clones, which enable instant restore and offsite data replication, will be available to Rackspace customers through StorSimple. The cloud-as-tier architecture enabled by the StorSimple Appliance is 80 percent more cost effective than traditional storage, reducing infrastructure cost with full storage capabilities in a single appliance and reducing operational cost by simplifying management and eliminating manual tape processes.

"The fact that Rackspace contributed the underlying source code that has become the OpenStack Object Storage Software illustrates how Rackspace has driven the success of OpenStack," said Ursheet Parikh, CEO of StorSimple. "In addition, the API they provide makes it possible for enterprises to build competitive cloud services, and we are showing our support with Rackspace being the first OpenStack cloud with which we are integrating our StoreSimple Appliance."