CloudBerry Storage Gateway Connects AD Users to AWS S3

CloudBerry Lab claims to be the first to connect Amazon (AMZN) Web Services Simple Storage Service (S3). The company, which provides cloud data management solutions for Amazon S3, Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Azure and Rackspace (RAX) Cloud Files, has released CloudBerry AD Bridge, which connects S3 accounts with the Active Directory service in Windows domain networks.

According to CloudBerry, AD Bridge was developed to simplify cloud storage deployment in corporate networks. As the company explained, enterprises can install and configure AD Bridge on one workstation or server in a domain network to automatically provide AD users with restricted access to a certain folder in an S3 account, providing users with native access to AWS resources.

That sounds a little complicated, but CloudBerry noted the offering actually simplifies the configuration process in deploying cloud storage.

"We see that companies started to realize the convenience of cloud storage and we believe that it has great potential, especially for small businesses," said Alexey Serkov, CloudBerry Lab CTO, in a prepared statement. "Unlikely there is a lack of tools for cloud storage deployment making the whole process a big challenge for system administrators. With AD Bridge we intended to help them in fast and easy cloud storage to corporate network integration."

Of course, CloudBerry AD Bridge was designed to integrate with other CloudBerry offerings, including CloudBerry Drive. By using the two in combination, authenticated AD users are provided with pre-configured access to an Amazon S3 account mapped as a network or external drive for fast and easy data access.

But what does this mean for the channel? CloudBerry didn't address partners in its announcement, but the company has what it calls the CloudBerry Lab Affiliate Program, which provides resellers with 30 percent commission. Perhaps a bigger opportunitiy is those partners who white-label CloudBerry Backup, which is powered by CloudBerry technology, Amazon S3 and Amazon Glacier.