IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration simplifies the movement and transformation of data. Read our review of the tool to learn more about functionality, competitors, and pricing.
This is expected in 2025 463 exabytes of data will be generated worldwide every day, and 85% of organizations have adopted a cloud-first strategy for their IT. This massive data growth and shift to the cloud will have major implications for both cloud providers and other businesses.
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At a minimum, this evolution means that commercial cloud providers must develop and adopt better ways to quickly move terabytes and petabytes of data to the cloud securely and affordably. One platform that is active in this space is IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration.
In this review, we discuss the key features of IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration, as well as some cloud data migration alternatives.
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What is IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration?
IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration, formerly known as IBM Mass Data Migration, is designed to transfer massive data payloads by using storage devices with capacities of up to 120 TB in the transfer process.
Using these devices accelerates the movement of data to the IBM cloud and eliminates some of the biggest data transfer obstacles organizations have faced over the years when transferring data in the cloud. Some of these obstacles include the high cost of transferring data to the cloud, bandwidth limitations resulting in long data transfer times and even data transfer delays, and data security concerns during transfers.
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IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration is actually a physical data transfer method. Organizations subscribing to the service received preconfigured 120 TB storage devices from IBM. The user selects the data they want to transfer to the device and both data encryption and data transfer are performed automatically. The user then sticks a pre-provided shipping label on the device that already contains the name of the IBM cloud service center that will upload the data to the cloud and then wipes the device clean.
Physical shipments can be completed on a schedule set and controlled by IT. You don’t have to be held back by bandwidth limitations that can occur over the Internet or other wireless transfer methods.
Features and benefits of IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration
Faster, scheduled data migrations
At RAID-6, IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration enables customers to migrate up to 120 TB of data to the cloud in just days. In contrast, a typical data transfer to the cloud over the Internet can be as slow as 1TB of data in 34 hours.
Customizable and scalable data transfer
It is no longer a question of whether and when the Internet and other forms of online data transfer will provide the bandwidth necessary to complete the data transfer. With IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration, you can plan your workloads and data transfers and purchase the number of physical IBM devices needed to run them.
No learning curve
You can start your data transfer immediately upon receipt of your device because the physical devices IBM supplies are already pre-configured and ready to use. All you need to do is identify the data you want to transfer. The IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration appliance and its embedded processes do the rest.
Strong safety standards
Before any data is stored on the physical devices IBM provides, the data is encrypted. The devices themselves are sealed and tamper-resistant. When the devices arrive at the IBM Cloud Center, data from the devices is uploaded to the cloud and then devices are wiped clean. With these security protocols, customers don’t have to worry about data being intercepted as it travels over the Internet or other communication lines.
IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration Pricing
IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration costs $50 USD per day, which includes device, optics, and shipping. Daily charges begin the day you receive your device from IBM and end the day the device is returned to IBM for offloading.
IBM Cloud Mass Data Migration Competitors and Alternatives
AWS Migration Services
AWS Migration Services include options such as support for database and server migration. The suite of services provides offline data storage devices that customers can ship to an Amazon data center, where data is then uploaded to the cloud.
For Amazon AWS users, all data migration services are free. The downside is that AWS cloud data migration services only support data transfer to the AWS cloud.
Microsoft Azure migration tools
Azure Migration Service and Database Migration Service are online data transfer services provided by Microsoft. Microsoft also offers offline Data Box hardware that uses AES encryption to protect data; this hardware can be shipped to a Microsoft Azure data center.
All these data migration services are offered free of charge. However, data transfer is only supported for Microsoft’s Azure Cloud.
Migrate carbonite
Migrate carbonite is aimed at businesses that want to focus their cloud data transfer operations on data recovery rather than day-to-day data transfers. Since Carbonite Migrate focuses on disaster recovery, the technical and customer support team is excellent.
Carbonite Migrate is also cloud vendor agnostic. It supports data transfer to AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google and VMWare. All data transfers are done online; Carbonite does not provide an option for physical hardware data transfer.
Read our review of Carbonite Migrate.
Micro Focus Plate Spin Migrate
Micro Focus Plate Spin Migrate supports multiple cloud environments, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and VMware. It is a well-positioned product for companies that are work in a multicloud environment.
PlateSpin Migrate has security granulated down to the permission levels of individual users. Data transfers are done online, as PlateSpin Migrate does not use any physical hardware devices.
Read more: Top tools for cloud and application migration (TechRepublic)
