Why NetApp Cloud Volumes Service on Google Cloud for Windows?
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Mike McNamara
Managing Windows infrastructure-as-a-service environments in the cloud is complex due to inefficient usage of server and storage resources, data availability issues, poor performance accessing data, and data replication and backups causing poor recovery times. NetApp Cloud Volumes Service on Google Cloud for Windows is a one-stop data solution that centralizes and consolidates storage, provides cost savings, and eliminates the need to refactor applications.
Use cases
Here are four examples of use cases of Cloud Volumes Service on Google Cloud for Windows.
Lift and shift Windows file servers
Migrate Windows file servers to Google Cloud with ease while saving on storage infrastructure cost. Plus, instant NetApp® Snapshot™ copies provide peace of mind with built-in security, encryption, and data protection.
Consolidate distributed Windows file servers
Get rid of remote and edge Windows file servers to eliminate branch backups and reduce server management cost. Higher availability, better performance, and global access result in improved productivity.
Boosting healthcare services
A major healthcare services provider wanted to migrate their SMB workloads to the cloud with high availability and encryption. Using Cloud Volumes Service, they were able to move their applications to Google Cloud 10 times faster.
Cloud virtual desktops
A company needed to move their home directories, group share, and libraries to Google Cloud. Using Cloud Volumes Service, they were able to get a fully managed service for NFS/CIFS that’s secure and encrypted.
Top reasons
Five reasons to run Windows workloads on Google Cloud and NetApp:
- 40% cloud infrastructure savings by using Cloud Volumes Service over using standard Windows instances for file shares.
- 90% reduction in Snapshot times, from hours to minutes, along with improved data availability.
- 99.99% uptime service-level monitoring.
- Expand or shrink volumes and change performance tiers dynamically.
- Simplify Windows operations with Cloud Volumes Service, integrated into Google Cloud's user interface. No infrastructure is required to manage or update.
Summary
Windows workloads are demanding, but modernizing them shouldn’t add to the complexity; it should simplify the work to be done. The NetApp and Google Cloud partnership delivers infrastructure, tools, and services that simplify your cloud journey while significantly reducing the costs of cloud storage.
NetApp and Google have co-engineered NetApp Cloud Volumes Service, a fully managed file storage service that simplifies how you migrate and run business-critical enterprise workloads in the cloud. Everything you need from two trusted names: Multiprotocol support (NFS/SMB/CIFS), high performance, advanced data management, reliability and security.
To learn more, read Uncover the future of managing Windows on Google Cloud.
Mike McNamara
Mike McNamara is a senior product and solution marketing leader at NetApp with over 25 years of data management and cloud storage marketing experience. Before joining NetApp over ten years ago, Mike worked at Adaptec, Dell EMC, and HPE. Mike was a key team leader driving the launch of a first-party cloud storage offering and the industry’s first cloud-connected AI/ML solution (NetApp), unified scale-out and hybrid cloud storage system and software (NetApp), iSCSI and SAS storage system and software (Adaptec), and Fibre Channel storage system (EMC CLARiiON).
In addition to his past role as marketing chairperson for the Fibre Channel Industry Association, he is a member of the Ethernet Technology Summit Conference Advisory Board, a member of the Ethernet Alliance, a regular contributor to industry journals, and a frequent event speaker. Mike also published a book through FriesenPress titled "Scale-Out Storage - The Next Frontier in Enterprise Data Management" and was listed as a top 50 B2B product marketer to watch by Kapos.
