As I’ve written about in my previous blog, CTERA Vault enables file immutability to enhance data protection and control across the global file system. Today, I am excited to update you about our latest enhancement to the product. CTERA Vault now extends these protections to S3-compatible object storage through Object Lock support. This means that data immutability is preserved end-to-end, from the file level all the way down to object storage blocks. By delivering seamless, top-down protection, CTERA Vault strengthens your organization’s data security, ensures integrity, and helps meet compliance requirements with confidence.
End-to-End Immutability
When Object Lock is enabled, CTERA automatically propagates compliance settings from the CTERA Portal cloud folders to an S3 bucket. It’s worth noting that although most S3 object storage solutions don’t allow Object Lock to be enabled on already populated buckets, AWS S3 does. To enable Object Lock on existing non-AWS S3 buckets, consider filing a “Request for Enhancement” with your storage vendor, as many vendors already have this on their radar.
For environments where WORM is already configured for existing data, enabling Object Lock on the S3 bucket ensures files’ immutability from your edge devices through to the storage backend and finally to the blocks themselves. This setup will effectively prevent modifications or deletions for a predefined retention period while also allowing for custom retention periods. Additionally, Object Lock scenarios are streamlined for S3 buckets supporting Governance retention mode.
If Object Lock is activated on an existing storage node, it will kickstart WORM propagation for already-stored files, ensuring their WORM data blocks align with the appropriate retention period.
CTERA Vault’s Object Lock is a team player. It works hand-in-hand with our object deduplication, maintaining block-level protection based on the longest retention period of the files that use it.
And don’t worry, CTERA never permanently deletes objects from a locked S3 bucket. When Object Lock is active, deleted blocks are marked as such but remain in place until removed according to the bucket’s Life Cycle Management rules. Setting up these rules is recommended for efficient storage management.
Object Lock adds an extra layer of security armor to protect your WORM data, helping organizations meet evolving security protocols and compliance mandates without breaking a sweat. With these new features, CTERA Vault continues to safeguard your data in today’s fast-paced digital world.
