EU providers bundle joint emergency system for cloud shutdown

SUSE, Elemento Cloud, Cubbit, and StorPool Storage, with their disaster recovery solution for cloud users, promise a European answer to the much-discussed scenario of a possible shutdown of US cloud services. Solutions from the purely European cloud IT stack are intended to ensure that this moment does not have to lead to the end of operations, according to the promise of the four companies. Planning for a normal failure scenario should ensure that operations would not have to be interrupted for a longer period, even in the extreme case of a kill switch.

An entry into the US exit?

Cubbit, which positions itself as an S3-compatible object storage alternative, among other things, has been cooperating with the provider of cloud management capabilities, Elemento Cloud, for some time. Linux pioneer SUSE brings expertise in open-source software for business customers. And StorPool from Bulgaria is the fourth partner in the project now presented, specializing in the use of standard hardware for software-defined storage solutions that are intended to be high-performance.

The joint initiative now announced is therefore intended to make it easier to enter exit scenarios from other cloud systems. With the “Sovereign Disaster Recovery Pack”, “a concrete, operational need” is to be met, explains Cubbit Co-CEO Alessandro Cillario. This need had previously been expressed by some large EU companies. A SUSE representative explained that they wanted to show that Europe has not only the components but also the “complete, mission-critical stack.” Further companies will be able to integrate their services into the product of the now-announced collaboration in the coming weeks, the companies announced.

Most recently, attacks on AWS data centers in the Gulf region, among others, have re-emphasized the issue of data security in the event of a disaster. The debate, which has been ongoing for some time, otherwise mainly revolves around the possible independence of European infrastructures from providers headquartered in the USA. Depending on the applicable regulation, solutions for the continued operability of cloud-operated applications and the availability of data stored in cloud storage, even in the event of a disaster, may also be legally required.

Cloud market to be more heavily regulated

The providers announced their joint approach at the “European Data Summit” of the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in Berlin. There, representatives from politics, authorities, companies, researchers, and non-governmental organizations also discussed possible gaps in the European regulatory framework. In particular, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) identifies a need for improvement in a study published on the occasion of the event. Cloud offerings as a combination of storage and service offerings should be subject to greater competition control, according to the conclusion of a study commissioned by the KAS.

(afl)