Equinix, Microsoft, EMC Partner for Reliable Cloud Storage

Direct connections from data centers to public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings have been all the rage lately, with several cloud organizations getting in on the trend. And it’s no wonder why, as more larger corporations are looking for ways to quicker migrate data to the cloud. And now Microsoft (MSFT), Equinix and EMC have teamed up to provide the beneifts of private storage in a public cloud environment using Azure ExpressRoute, Equinix Cloud Exchange and EMC storage solutions.

The trio’s combined solution is now available via Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers, and according to the vendors, it provides secure, scalable and reliable storage to the cloud without compromise. That’s a bit of a promise, but what it really means is direct connection to public cloud storage on Azure, essentially taking on the benefits of private storage in a hybrid cloud environment.

Here’s how it breaks down, according to the companies: “Data is stored on the EMC platform, either on premises or in the cloud. Applications run in Microsoft Azure and are directly linked to enterprise storage by Azure ExpressRoute connections. It’s all housed inside Equinix, which offers ExpressRoute in its IBX data center facilities in 16 global markets. Functional testing with Isilon scale out NAS with some customers demonstrated improved throughput and performance.”

That means EMC has deployed its storage solutions within Equinix data centers. Equinix noted that this expands its Cloud Exchange offerings, providing near real-time provisioning of cloud services and dynamic bandwidth allocation for connecting clients to Azure cloud storage quickly and securely.

Like other direct connection offerings, this one bypasses the public Internet, so for customers looking to move a hefty load of data to the cloud, this might be a good solution that makes it quick and easy.