Quantum introduces Myriad

Quantum has launched Quantum Myriad™, an all-flash, scale-out file and object storage software platform for the enterprise. Leveraging advances in application frameworks and design that were not available even a few years ago, Myriad’s modern cloud-native architecture makes it an easy-to-use solution that overcomes the limitations of hardware-centric designs and enables customers to adapt to future storage needs while reducing the burden on over-extended IT staff. 

More than double the amount of data will be created in the next five years than was in the previous ten, according to IDC*. Yet most enterprises continue to store this data on systems that were designed 20 years ago and cannot take advantage of the latest flash and memory technologies available today. Even more recent all-flash file and object storage solutions rely on specialised hardware and won’t run natively in the cloud, leading to tradeoffs, compromises, and complexity. 

Myriad solves these challenges with an all new shared-nothing architecture designed for the latest flash technologies to deliver consistent low-latency performance at any scale. It introduces inline data services such as deduplication and compression, snapshots and clones, and metadata tagging to accelerate AI/ML data processing. And it uses familiar and proven cloud technologies, like microservices and Kubernetes®, to deliver cloud simplicity wherever deployed. The software operates on standard high-volume flash storage servers so IT teams can quickly adopt the latest hardware and storage infrastructure for future needs. With Myriad, enterprises can replace legacy disk-based storage systems with a software-defined, all-flash platform that provides faster performance, greater scale, and a more sustainable and green solution that is both power and real estate efficient. 

“To keep pace with data growth, the industry has “thrown hardware” at the problem,” says Brian Pawlowski, chief development officer, Quantum. “Integrating feedback from customers, partners and industry analysts on what’s missing from current solutions in market, we took a totally different approach with Myriad, and the result is the architecture I’ve wanted to build for 20 years. Myriad is incredibly simple, incredibly adaptable storage software for an unpredictable future.”

Myriad expands Quantum’s portfolio of solutions for unstructured data and is ideally suited for emerging high-growth use cases that require more performance and more scale, including AI and machine learning, modern data lakes, VFX and animation, and other high-bandwidth and high IOPs applications. These use cases are driving growth in the market for dedicated scale-out file and object storage, expected to grow at a 12% CAGR from 2020-2026 and be a $19.1 billion market by 2026**.

Myriad’s key features include:

• An all-new, shared-nothing software architecture built for the latest flash technologies to deliver consistent, low-latency performance at any scale.

• A modern microservices architecture, orchestrated by Kubernetes to provide a resilient, “always on” architecture and deliver new features and fixes rapidly with less risk.

• Self-healing, self-balancing software for in-service upgrades that automatically rebuilds and repairs data in the background while also rebalancing data as the storage cluster expands, shrinks and changes.

• Automated detection, deployment and configuration of storage nodes within a cluster so a cluster can be scaled, modified or shrunk non-disruptively, without user intervention.

• Automated networking management of the internal RDMA fabric so managing even a large Myriad cluster requires no networking expertise.

• Inline data deduplication and compression to reduce the cost of flash storage and improve data efficiencies relative to legacy storage platforms.

• Simple data security and ransomware recovery with built-in snapshots, clones, snapshot recovery tools and “rollback” capabilities.

• Inline metadata tagging to accelerate AI/ML data processing, provide real-time data analytics, enable rapid creation of data lakes based on tags, and automate data pipelines and workflows.

• Real-Time monitoring of system health, performance, capacity trending, and more from a secure online portal by connecting to Quantum cloud-based AI Operations software.

“To power the next era of digital business, we need an evolution in storage that removes the constraints from yesterday’s data centre,” said Dave Pearson, research vice president, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group for IDC. “For new demanding workloads, low latency and tremendous IOPS are required, along with increased scalability and native cloud interoperability to power the next wave of applications.”

“Myriad is immediately relevant for many of our customers who are investing in all-flash storage systems,” said Troy Watson, vice president and general manager, Central Region, of Quantum partner Trace3. “It is a truly modern design and further strengthens Quantum’s portfolio of solutions for unstructured data. We look forward to partnering with Quantum to help bring this innovative solution to market.”