Sphere 3D Releases SnapCLOUD Storage for Microsoft Azure

Virtualization and data management solution provider Sphere 3D (ANY) is looking to help enterprises reduce the need for physical storage infrastructure with SnapCLOUD for Azure, the company’s virtual storage platform, which is now available through the Microsoft Azure marketplace.

SnapCLOUD is a virtual enterprise network attached storage (NAS) solution, which essentially provides users with unlimited cloud storage to supplement their physical infrastructure, according to Sphere 3D. When combined with the company’s SnapServer and SnapScale premise-based storage deployments, enterprises are able to deploy a hybrid cloud model on Azure.

“As the world becomes more mobile and generates significantly more data, enterprises are seeking a mix of cloud and on-premises services that can help them quickly deploy applications and effectively manage all of this data,” said Nicole Herskowitz, senior director of Product Marketing for Microsoft Azure, in a statement. “Sphere 3D’s solutions extend the capabilities of Azure enabling customers to seamlessly manage apps and data in a hybrid cloud environment.”

SnapCLOUD can be purchased on a pay-by-use model, with customers using servers, storage and networking from Azure Marketplace, according to Sphere 3D. Built in sync and share functionality is also included, which allows customers to share data among users and devices directly from SnapCLOUD.

The latest version of SnapCLOUD is available immediately in the Azure Marketplace. Customers can purchase up to 16TB of storage per virtual machine image, with storage available in 1GB increments on a pay-per-use basis, according to Sphere 3D.

SnapCLOUD for Azure was announced this week during Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Orlando, where the company announced its plan to expand the Surface tablet channel and provided new details on the upcoming launch of Windows 10.