Equinix and NetApp Partner to Enable Data Center Transformation

As enterprises prepare to compete in a digital-first world, they need access to innovative technologies, quickly and in all the right places. This means that having an effective cloud strategy has never been more important than it is now. In fact, research from IDC found that total worldwide cloud spending—including cloud services, the hardware and software components underpinning the cloud supply chain, and the professional and managed services opportunities around cloud services—will surpass $1.3 trillion in 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 16.9%.[i]

While enterprises are clearly making cloud a priority, getting the most value out of their cloud investments may not be easy. They’ll have to overcome challenges such as:

• Multicloud deployments: Running applications effectively across different cloud providers and on-premises environments, without creating unmanageable complexity in the process.
• Application modernization: Building the agile, high-performance digital infrastructure that today’s advanced applications demand.
• Data migration: Quickly getting data where it needs to be to support cloud use cases.

This is where NetApp Cloud Volumes for Google Cloud powered by Equinix can help. NetApp and Equinix teamed up to deliver the ultimate data center transformation for our joint customers, helping them overcome these challenges to be successful with their cloud strategies. The solution is based on years of trusted partnership between our two businesses and Google Cloud. Together, Equinix and NetApp deliver a faster, more agile data center experience for Google Cloud users.

Execute your multicloud strategy with confidence

A hybrid multicloud strategy is all about running workloads where they make the most sense, be it on a particular cloud provider or on premises. We know that many of our customers want to take advantage of Google Cloud’s capabilities around advanced big data, AI, analytics and storage, but that doesn’t mean they can’t also run front-end applications elsewhere.

NetApp and Equinix offer tightly integrated solutions that augment each other’s respective benefits and help our joint customers execute their hybrid multicloud solutions with confidence. NetApp Cloud Volumes provides advanced managed file storage services that allow businesses to migrate file-based enterprise applications to Google Cloud quickly and easily, and then run those applications in the cloud without having to redesign their code, processes or teams. Meanwhile, Equinix Fabric™ for Google Cloud Interconnect (GCI) complements NetApp Cloud Volumes by allowing customers to seamlessly interconnect Google Cloud with other cloud and SaaS providers, on demand at software speed. Interconnecting with a diverse ecosystem of partners via Equinix Fabric can help customers take advantage of advanced cloud use cases that require consistent high performance and ultra-low latency.

By simultaneously taking advantage of the benefits of both NetApp Cloud Volumes and Equinix Fabric, our joint customers can bring together their physical and digital infrastructure into a cohesive, optimized hybrid environment, and then adapt that environment quickly to keep up with a changing business world.

With NetApp Cloud Volumes for Google Cloud powered by Equinix, customers can save up to 70% in cloud storage costs compared to high-availability cloud servers and take advantage of flexible pay-as-you-go pricing and integrated Google Cloud billing. The joint solution also supports better data protection and security, drawing from NetApp Cloud Volumes’ seamless failover, failback and restore capabilities—which help ensure data is always available and secure, even if the original data is lost—and Equinix Fabric’s purpose-built private connections—which allow customer to bypass the public internet and reduce their attack surface.

NetApp Cloud Volumes for Google Cloud powered by Equinix supports multiple use cases

The joint solution for Google Cloud helps deliver better results for customers across even the most demanding workloads.

Run VMware-based applications in Google Cloud

To enable a successful hybrid multicloud strategy, enterprises can seamlessly migrate their on-premises VMware workloads to Google Cloud without having to rearchitect or refactor their applications. This empowers them to leverage the full value of their existing VMware investments while also maintaining operational continuity. They can achieve all this while avoiding complex data management, hardware refreshes and procurement cycles.

Simplify Windows File Server deployments on Google Cloud

NetApp Cloud Volumes is the only cloud-native file service available on Google Cloud that supports Microsoft Windows file shares. This capability allows our joint customers to simplify their Windows file server deployments, which in turn can help them consolidate file servers, build upon virtual desktop infrastructure, and migrate applications with ease. By implementing NetApp Cloud Volumes for Google Cloud powered by Equinix, customers can save 70% on Windows infrastructure costs, replicate Windows workspaces 10x faster, and execute Windows application builds 30x faster.

Migrate data where it needs to be—quickly and consistently

With our respective market-leading offerings in interconnection and cloud file storage, Equinix and NetApp combine to help customers move data from other clouds to Google Cloud in a matter of minutes, not months. Equinix Fabric software-defined interconnections allow customers to migrate data with consistent high performance, low latency and reduced packet drops.

Equinix interconnection also provides a more secure, resilient way of moving data to Google Cloud. With encrypted volumes and data encryption in flight, customers can move even the most vulnerable data with complete confidence it won’t be compromised. Customers operating in highly regulated industries such as healthcare or finance can also take advantage of storage encryption, snapshots and multizone high availability from NetApp. Together, Equinix and NetApp help them pursue their cloud strategies while also addressing their unique data privacy requirements.

See the solution in action

We invite you to see for yourself how this unique combination of Equinix interconnection services and NetApp cloud file storage can help transform your Google Cloud experience. Sign up for a free 14-day trial today.

[i] IDC, “Worldwide Whole Cloud Forecast, 2021-2025: The Path Ahead for Cloud in a Digital-First World.” Authors: Rick Villars, Rasmus Andsbjerg, Dave McCarthy, Lara Greden, Frank Della Rosa, Gard Little, David Tapper, Natalya Yezhkova, Rob Brothers and Andrew Smith. September 2021, IDC #US47397521.