In today’s digital age, global availability of data is crucial for organizations operating on a global scale. Having access to data from different locations enables businesses to make informed decisions quickly and efficiently. However, with the benefits of global data availability come significant risks. Internal data leaks and non-compliance with data sovereignty regulations can result in financial and legal repercussions, damaging an organization’s reputation and putting sensitive information at risk.
CTERA is a cloud data services company that provides cloud file storage and collaboration solutions for businesses of all sizes. One of the key features of CTERA’s offering is the Zones capabilities that provide a lot of granularity and capabilities for their global file system.
The Challenge
The need for CTERA’s Zones capabilities emerged from the growing complexity of managing data in distributed organizations. With the rise of remote work and the increasing volume of data being generated and shared, organizations face significant challenges in ensuring secure and efficient data access and collaboration across multiple locations and teams. Traditional file storage and sharing methods often lack the flexibility and granularity needed to manage data effectively in this context, leading to security risks, data silos, and productivity loss.
CTERA Zones address these challenges by providing a scalable, secure, and customizable way to organize, manage, and collaborate on data in a global file system.
What are Zones?
Zones are a way to organize and manage data within a CTERA global file system. A zone is essentially a logical container that can contain one or more directories (or as we call them – Cloud Folders) or users files. Each zone can be configured with its own set of policies, permissions, and security settings, which can be customized based on the needs of the organization.
Zones are particularly useful for organizations that have large, distributed teams working across multiple locations. With Zones, administrators can create separate areas for each team, department, or location, and set policies and permissions that are specific to each zone. This allows for greater control over access to sensitive data, as well as better visibility into who is accessing what data and when.
Granularity and Capabilities
One of the key benefits of CTERA’s Zones capabilities is the level of granularity that it provides. Administrators can create zones for specific Edge Filer that provide unique access to the global file system with segmented permissions. This allows for a much finer level of control over data access, which can be important for organizations with sensitive or confidential data.
Zones allow you to scale out your global file system seamlessly as well as provide secure, supervised data access with the flexibility to set clear boundaries for data access.
Example:
Let’s look at a use-case example. Organization “Alpha” has the following Cloud Folder Directories:
- \Finance
- \Top-Security
- \Marketing
- \HR
CTERA Zones Example
“Alpha” has multiple sites with headquarters (HQ) based in NYC. They would like to allow HQ only to be able to access the Finance & Top-Security directory.
With Zones, they can create 2 zones.
- Zone 1: Finance, Top-Security
- Zone 2: Marketing, HR
Policies are assigned per Edge Filer. For the HQ Edge Filer, they can grant access to both Zone 1 and Zone 2. Another location in San Francisco also has an Edge Filer and they can create a policy that only grants access to Zone 2.
Conclusion
CTERA’s Zones capabilities provide a powerful set of tools for managing and securing data within a global file system. With Zones, organizations can create logical containers for data, set policies and permissions that are specific to each zone, and manage data across different tiers of storage. Zones also provide a range of collaboration features and robust security, making it an ideal solution for distributed teams and organizations with sensitive data.
In a world where data is the lifeblood of modern organizations, the importance of securing and managing it effectively cannot be overstated. With CTERA’s Zones, organizations can confidently navigate the challenges of global data availability while protecting sensitive information and complying with regulations. By implementing a comprehensive data segmentation strategy, organizations can build a foundation for success in today’s digital landscape, ensuring that their data remains secure, accessible, and resilient.
About the Author
Gal Yosef began his tenure with CTERA as a product manager based at the company’s headquarters in Israel. He has since moved to the United States to become a leading solution architect where he has demonstrated a keen ability to understand complex technical issues and provide innovative solutions to meet the needs of CTERA’s customers.