Hybrid Cloud: The Perfect Partner for AI and Unstructured File Data

I work with a lot of customers, and in talking to them, I find that many of them are dealing with a growing avalanche of unstructured data — from documents, images, and videos to industry-specific data assets. This unstructured data explosion is not just a challenge. It’s also an opportunity. It’s a chance to leverage AI to extract valuable insights, automate processes, and drive strategic innovation. However, traditional storage solutions aren’t equipped to manage the complexity, exponential growth, and geographic dispersion that is typical of the unstructured file data silos that generally reside within companies. Enter a hybrid cloud storage architecture — an approach that is well suited to powering AI-driven applications due to its effective management of unstructured data.

Unlocking AI’s Fuel

Unstructured data, with its rich diversity, is often referred to as ‘providing the fuel’ for GenAI models. But you must be aware of and able to provide access to that fuel.

The sheer scale of unstructured file data requires storage and management systems that are capable of dynamic scaling, cost-effective operations, and secure access, all at the local speeds with which users and applications demand it. Hybrid cloud platforms such as Nasuni are able to deliver this agility. By integrating the scalable benefits of public cloud platforms with the controlled environments of fast on-premises access, companies can store, access, analyze, and utilize their unstructured data through a single global file namespace, easily plugging it into both public and private AI applications and solutions.

So, why is hybrid cloud essential for unstructured data in AI?

Scalability & Flexibility

Nasuni’s hybrid cloud architecture provides the ability to access data as a ‘file’ but also leverage unlimited cloud object storage for infinite scalability. This enables unstructured file data used for AI workloads to rapidly scale to petabytes of data without requiring significant upfront investment or hardware constraints.

Performance & Global Accessibility

Hybrid cloud ensures that AI models have access to the latest, freshest company data, no matter the geographic distribution of teams and infrastructure. Frequently accessed data is cached locally for fast access where data has gravity, and yet changes are pushed back into the global file namespace, providing AI solutions that are plugged into the namespace with immediate access to real-time, globally synchronized data. While all this is occurring, Nasuni’s Global File System ensures that datasets remain consistent, accessible, and performant worldwide.

Security & AI Resiliency

Nasuni’s ransomware protection and continuous snapshot streams mean that data used with GenAI and agentic architectures is not only secure and protected but can also be restored as needed in minutes, not months, providing a company with true ransomware and AI data resilience.

Cost Optimization

Lastly, let’s talk about cost. Nasuni’s hybrid cloud architecture significantly reduces infrastructure and operational costs due to the ability to take advantage of cloud cost economics. Nasuni’s intelligent analytics tool, Nasuni IQ, also helps businesses forecast data growth, optimize data distribution, and enhance cost efficiency — all crucial for AI-driven initiatives.

Building AI-First Enterprises

It’s important to understand that legacy NAS systems and other storage silos are inherently limited when it comes to AI readiness. They typically suffer from difficult data replication, and limited scalability, making them inadequate for managing the large-scale, distributed unstructured file datasets that are essential to feed AI workloads. NAS silos trap data in isolated locations, restricting collaboration and the real-time analytics capabilities that are necessary for making distributed data sets effective with AI.

Hybrid cloud architectures address these shortcomings by providing a cohesive, unified data architecture that supports seamless integration, rapid scalability, and single-pane-of-glass access to distributed data for use with AI.

So, to sum it up: Hybrid cloud is the foundation for global access to distributed unstructured file data, which underpins the successful enterprise use of AI. You will not get the most out of AI in the enterprise without access to all your unstructured data. And you cannot deliver this level of secure global access without hybrid cloud.

The Nasuni platform is an enabler for businesses to move past legacy limitations and fully harness your unstructured data, transforming it into actionable AI-driven insights while also ensuring flexibility, global collaboration, security, performance, and cost-effectiveness for today’s AI-centric digital environment.