Data Unpacked

Data Unpacked 007 – Exploring the Managed Database Continuum with Mat Keep from MongoDB

In this episode, Chris chats to Mat Keep (Senior Director of Product at MongoDB) about the proliferation of managed database solutions. Specifically, the conversation covers options for MongoDB, including Atlas [https://www.mongodb.com/atlas]. Managed databases provide a way for customers to gain rapid access to a development or production platform, paying for usage either on a time or transactional basis. This choice increases value for the customer, while ceding greater management control to the vendor. Whilst the database administrators may not have as many “nerd knobs” to vary, the time to value is hugely increased when database endpoints can be provisioned in a matter of minutes. Mat explains how MongoDB has developed Atlas, an online portal for databases on-demand. This consumption model enables developers test code and for businesses and organisations, such as the UK’s HMRC, to rapidly put new applications in place. You can learn more about Atlas and MongoDB at https://www.mongodb.com/ [https://www.mongodb.com/] Elapsed Time: 00:43:01 TIMELINE * 00:00:00 – Intros * 00:02:34 – Database history goes back many years (including before relational databases) * 00:03:07 – Database “as a service” is now a thing – 50% of the market * 00:04:42 – On-demand databases have an incredibly short lead time * 00:05:37 – 6 month lead time is now 6 minutes * 00:06:38 – 750 million applications on the horizon? * 00:07:57 – Value for use is higher with SaaS and on-demand database solutions * 00:09:20 – The vendor is in the best position to provide product support * 00:11:47 – What are the negatives of using SaaS platforms? * 00:15:00 – Database migrations are tricky to achieve safely * 00:16:16 – MongoDB offers serverless as an option * 00:17:42 – MongoDB is available on Arm, Power and mainframe * 00:19:53 – Is SaaS used just for development or across the spectrum of adoption? * 00:24:34 – How does data encryption work in a SaaS environment? * 00:25:48 – Queryable encryption is achieved at the client side * 00:31:08 – Deleting encrypted data is just a case of deleting the encryption keys * 00:32:33 – How should customers choose where to run database applications? * 00:34:17 – There are many aspects to migrations – TCO, skills, regulation * 00:38:11 – Culture and people can be a challenge in migration * 00:41:08 – Wrap Up ---------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2023 Unpacked Network. Post #e34f. Do not reproduce without permission, in part, or whole.

Data Unpacked 006 – Introducing HYCU R-Cloud

In this episode, Chris talks to HYCU CEO Simon Taylor [https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjonathantaylor/] and SVP of Products Subbiah Sundaram [https://www.linkedin.com/in/subbiahsundaram/] about the announcement of HYCU R-Cloud. R-Cloud is a new solution for protecting SaaS applications, of which there are around 17,000 in the US alone. Traditionally, SaaS vendors need backup vendors to develop support for the backup APIs the SaaS vendor provides. This results in each vendor doing custom work to write to the specifics of each API. The consequence if this process means backup vendors will choose to support SaaS platforms with the greatest volume of customer data. Smaller SaaS vendors can easily get squeezed out and find it difficult to be onboarded. R-Cloud inverts the process, providing an API and low-code environment where SaaS vendors can build integration in as little as three days. Through the use of single sign-on, a customer can quickly visualise all data in a view called R-Graph, which focuses on the data, rather than infrastructure view. You can read more about R-Cloud in our related blog post – https://www.architecting.it/blog/hycu-rcloud-launch/ [https://www.architecting.it/blog/hycu-rcloud-launch/] or visit https://www.hycu.com/ [https://www.hycu.com/] for more details. Elapsed Time: 00:26:42 TIMELINE * 00:00:00 – Intros * 00:00:41 – What is R-Cloud? * 00:01:30 – How many SaaS applications exist today? * 00:03:30 – How do backup systems work? It’s ETIL * 00:04:55 – SaaS vendors must build an API for backup vendors to use * 00:06:39 – The shared responsibility model means customers must protect their data * 00:08:30 – How will R-Cloud work in practice? * 00:09:44 – Midsize companies could have data in 212 different locations * 00:10:33 – R-Graph lets customers see a map of their data * 00:12:53 – HYCU Protege is already modular in design * 00:14:31 – How can HYCU “genericise” SaaS data structures into a single API? * 00:16:25 – Single sign-on is a critical piece in developing R-Cloud * 00:18:05 – R-Cloud enables new routes to customers through the marketplace * 00:20:49 – Does R-Cloud replace SaaS platform recovery? * 00:23:20 – No backup vendor can code to support 17,000 SaaS applications * 00:25:34 – Wrap Up ---------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2023 Unpacked Network. Post #c3df. Do not reproduce without permission, in part, or whole.

Data Unpacked 005 – Securing SaaS Data Protection Solutions with Commvault Metallic (Sponsored)

In this recording, Chris talks with David Ngo (CTO for Metallic) and Indu Peddibhotla (VP Products at Commvault) on how Commvault and the Metallic platform [https://metallic.io/] implement secure SaaS data protection. Customers depend on Metallic to recover from ransomware and other data loss scenarios. This puts more pressure on SaaS backup to be secure, protected and impregnable from assault. Commvault uses a set of design principles in its approach with Metallic that include; Security built-in, Certification, Air-gapped security, audit trails, multi-factor authentication, zero-trust methodology and early threat detection to achieve secure status. In the conversation, David and Indu take us through exactly what each of these concepts means and how they are used to develop a secure SaaS data protection solution. Naturally, some of the processes are trade secrets, but we can see from certifications including FedRAMP, FIPS 140-02, CJIS compliance, GDPR compliance, HIPAA and more, that the service is secured to a high degree of competence. During the conversation, we reference Cloud Field Day 13 – here’s the link to Commvault’s presentations – https://techfieldday.com/appearance/metallic-presents-at-cloud-field-day-13/ [https://techfieldday.com/appearance/metallic-presents-at-cloud-field-day-13/] We also quote the great Donald Rumsfeld about “known unknowns” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_unknown_unknowns [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_unknown_unknowns] Here are two previous pieces of content on vendor guarantees: * https://www.architecting.it/blog/backup-vendor-guarantees/ [https://www.architecting.it/blog/backup-vendor-guarantees/] * https://unpacked.network/guest-speakers/95-storage-guarantees/ [https://unpacked.network/guest-speakers/95-storage-guarantees/] Here’s a link to Metallic Recovery Reserve, mentioned by Indu – https://metallic.io/metallic-cloud-storage [https://metallic.io/metallic-cloud-storage] Here’s the link to Metallic ThreatWise – https://metallic.io/threatwise-cyber-deception [https://metallic.io/threatwise-cyber-deception] Finally, here’s a link to the Trust Centre mentioned by Indu – https://metallic.io/trust [https://metallic.io/trust] Elapsed Time: 00:31:26 TIMELINE * 00:00:00 – Intros * 00:01:00 – Cloud Field Day 13 generated some thought about protecting SaaS applications * 00:03:00 – “Disaster” has a new set of definitions in the hybrid world * 00:04:30 – SaaS backup is an natural solution for modern data protection * 00:05:40 – SaaS data protection has a unique set of additional security requirements * 00:07:37 – Zero Trust, Secure software development, logical air gaps * 00:10:26 – What do customers want and need to protect? * 00:12:10 – Modern data protection needs more than simple immutability * 00:13:52 – We need to focus more on what businesses really want * 00:14:55 – Vendors need to demonstrate capability, but not expose how! * 00:16:20 – ThreatWise enables Commvault to do early intrusion detection * 00:17:53 – Commvault SREs make sure SLAs are met * 00:19:30 – How do vendors avoid socially engineered hacks? * 00:21:37 – What about the “unknown threats”? * 00:23:00 – Is there any value in ransomware guarantees? * 00:26:15 – I’d prefer to not have my leg cut off in the first place…. * 00:26:47 – Is there a minimum set of standards to expect? * 00:28:42 – Commvault continues to innovate on a holistic approach to data protection * 00:30:03 – Wrap Up ---------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2023 Unpacked Network. Post #c3po. Do not reproduce without permission, in part, or whole.

Data Unpacked 004 – Reflections on Data Management, Security and Protection with HYCU CEO Simon Taylor

In this live recording from AWS:Reinvent in December 2022, Chris catches up with HYCU CEO Simon Taylor [https://twitter.com/simonhycu] to discuss data management, security and protection. These three aspects are becoming increasingly intertwined as challenges such as ransomware continue to affect more companies than ever before. Electronic data is critical to every business and any breach affects not just the commercial world, but other areas such as healthcare. As the conversation continues, Simon highlights the challenges around protecting SaaS applications. There are around 16,000 currently active in the US, while a typical company operates around 175 data silos. There’s lots of work to do as we see greater use of the public cloud, especially with respect to software-as-a-service. In this podcast episode, Simon mentions https://getrscore.org/ [https://getrscore.org/], which we covered in this blog post [https://www.architecting.it/blog/r-score-hycu/] back in September 2021. Elapsed Time: 00:13:42 TIMELINE * 00:00:00 – Intros * 00:01:00 – What are Simon’s initial thoughts? * 00:02:15 – Security around data has become a critical issue * 00:04:00 – How should ransomware impacts be quantified – money, people, health? * 00:05:00 – Electronic data is critical to modern life * 00:06:20 – How should developers consider data security? * 00:07:25 – 16,000 SaaS services in the US – 175 different data silos * 00:09:00 – How are SaaS applications protected? * 00:11:30 – There’s a Cambrian Explosion of new companies – are they diverse enough? * 00:13:25 – Wrap Up ---------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2023 Unpacked Network. Post #agee. Do not reproduce without permission, in part, or whole.

Data Unpacked 003 – Protecting the Cloud for Free with HYCU Protégé

In this episode of Data Unpacked, we talk to Subbiah Sundaram (Senior VP of Products) and Andy Fernandez (Director of Product Marketing) from HYCU. The company recently announced a free tier of the HYCU Protégé service for developers working in Amazon Web Services. Users can quickly get started and protect data, with the option to upgrade later to paid features. Why is the company doing this and what problem is it solving? It turns out that many developers don’t realise that data protection isn’t turned on by default in the public cloud. The Shared Responsibility Model means AWS takes care of hardware management, but data becomes the customer’s resource to protect. HYCU enables developers to install a free version then try advanced features for a limited time before choosing to buy (or not). To learn more, follow https://www.hycu.com/protege/aws [https://www.hycu.com/protege/aws] and scroll down to the free trial offer. Elapsed time: 00:27:29 TIMELINE * 00:00:00 – Intros * 00:01:20 – Data protection in the cloud is your responsibility * 00:01:50 – Developers moving to the cloud don’t realise there’s no backup * 00:02:40 – Vendor’s commitment is to the hardware * 00:03:40 – Only the application owner knows the backup requirements * 00:04:40 – What do developers expect from infrastructure? * 00:07:01 – Agility is important in cloud, backup should be the same * 00:10:43 – How does a backup company engage with developers? * 00:12:06 – Try and buy (or try and use) is the new way of working * 00:13:15 – Who wants to wade through a 1” thick manual? * 00:14:25 – Could you do self-managed backup? * 00:15:22 – Snapshots work but are difficult to manage at scale * 00:16:55 – What is HYCU offering developers? * 00:19:30 – What does “free” mean for HYCU Protege in this instance? * 00:20:40 – How did our test-drive work out? * 00:21:30 – HYCU wants to protect customer’s data within 20 minutes * 00:22:40 – Customers can upgrade at ay time * 00:23:52 – Developers don’t need a credit card to try features out * 00:26:00 – How can listeners try this out? * 00:27:16 – Wrap Up ---------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2022 Unpacked Network. Post #2w3e. Do not reproduce without permission, in part, or whole.