Nasuni Adds Global File Sync And Share For Cloud Collaboration

Nasuni this week added a global file system to its cloud-based file storage solution, giving its customers the ability to access files via the cloud from anywhere and making it easier for employees to collaborate on projects regardless of their location.

With the release of Nasuni Service 6.0, along with a new mobile application suite, Nasuni is expanding the functionality of its solution to make it into a true global file sync and share platform, said Andres Rodriguez, CEO of the Natick, Mass.-based software and appliance developer.

New from Nasuni is its UniFS global file system, which creates a single logical master version of a user's data that can be accessed from anywhere, Rodriguez told CRN.

[Related: File Sync And Share: Channel In Demand To Help Business Users]

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"And it can be accessed with any device, whether it's a high-performance data center or a mobile device," he said. "Now IT can manage a single version of the file, the master file. Users aren't concerned that there may be multiple copies of the data for backup or replication. The system manages it as one."

Prior to the UniFS global file system, files existed in multiple locations so that if a user made a change in one copy, there could be collisions with other versions of the file, Rodriguez said.

"Now we have global file locking in which the master file is locked when in use," he said. "Changes in the data are transparent to the users. With traditional file sync and share offerings, there is no locking. Changes in the file have to be replicated to other copies."

The UniFS global file system is the first time data can scale across any number of locations while available for access by any device, according to Rodriguez.

"With the Nasuni Service 6.0 release, the function is automatically applied to existing data," he said. "Since we operate as a service, everything that rolls out is available to customers automatically."

The global file locking and single master file capability of the UniFS is an extremely important addition, said Cindy Tenner, managing director at Broadleaf Services, a Billerica, Mass.-based solution provider and Nasuni channel partner since the company's founding.

NEXT: Enhancing Cloud-Based Mobility

"All our customers have multiple offices and workers in many locations," Tenner told CRN. "They need to collaborate around the world. File locking is important. And Nasuni does it in a unique way. Its file locking is not in a box, but in the cloud. And Nasuni provides the horsepower to do it right."

Broadleaf's customers -- in such verticals as architecture, engineering, and media -- will jump on this new capability immediately, Tenner said.

"These type of clients have a large number of files and have to collaborate on projects from many locations," she said.

Nasuni plays a big role in Broadleaf's moves to help customers transition from traditional IT infrastructures to more elastic cloud architectures while giving them the control over IT they require, Tenner said.

"The problem of 'shadow IT' is very real," she said. "If IT departments can't provide the storage and collaboration users need quickly, users will get it themselves via Dropbox or Amazon. Nasuni provides the control companies need."

Also new with Nasuni Service 6.0 are additions to its mobility suit for Android and iOS that add the ability to work with files off-line on any device, Rodriguez said.

"We're providing Windows, OSX, and Linux file sync," he said. "This gets customers out of the business of backing up laptops and mobile devices. It's a single storage platform that provides for a single version of data which can be access via Active Directory authentication."

Nasuni continues to have a 100 percent focus on indirect channel partners, Rodriguez said. Revenue so far this year is about double that of the same time last year, he said.

PUBLISHED JULY 18, 2014