Data Backup Digest

You don't have to look far to find recent cases of ransomware. According to a recent study, one ransomware attack occurred every 10 seconds in 2020. To put this in another perspective, ransomware gangs made off with more than $350 million in stolen funds in 2020 – and these trends don't seem to be slowing in 2021.

It doesn't even matter what industry you're in or even what sort of projects you're working on; you're still fair game for modern hackers. Thankfully, IT companies are taking the ransomware threat seriously. Manufacturers are taking a number of steps to thwart would-be hackers, including upgrading their own software and hardware.

Pure Storage Joins the Fight Against Ransomware

Recent products by manufacturers like Pure Storage illustrate some of the steps taken to reinforce their systems. Looking at the new software features that were recently rolled out by Pure Storage, for example, makes it clear that a great deal of effort is being invested to combat ransomware.

Both of Pure Storage's flagship product families, FlashArray and FlashBlade, received updates in early 2021. Officially a part of Pure Storage's Evergreen program, which aims to keep their older technologies updated with the latest innovations, the recent updates are aimed specifically at their Purity software package.

For FlashArray, Pure Storage introduced a brand new SafeMode option that effectively gives companies the option of backing up their backup files. Since these files are created in read-only mode, they can never be modified – even if a hacker manages to gain access.

Additionally, Pure Storage implemented some performance upgrades, too. By unveiling a brand new, high-speed NVMe data access protocol, the development team with Pure Storage was able to reduce latency by as much as 50%. They also introduced a new feature called ActiveCluster, which creates standby copies of important files while still letting them sync data during an outage.

In the case of FlashBlade, Pure Storage introduced numerous security and performance upgrades. For starters, administrators now have full control over user-level rules. Pure Storage also implemented a comprehensive data monitoring system that lets administrators track data access and modification throughout the system.

Those who are using FlashBlade within a Windows environment also have access to another new feature: native support for the SMB protocol. In some cases, this could let FlashBlade transfer data at rates exceeding 1 TB per minute.

As you can see, Pure Storage didn't focus all of their efforts toward fighting ransomware. Instead, they added some performance enhancements for their customers, too.

Introducing a Brand New Product, Too

Finally, Pure Storage unveiled a brand new device to their FlashArray product line. The FlashArray//C40 is meant as an alternative to hybrid storage arrays. While it doesn't quite match the speed of Flash-based systems, the combination of flash and traditional HDDs can go a long way in improving your overall system performance. Pure Storage's FlashArray//C40 is available immediately for purchase.

To find out more information about Pure Storage, including details on any of their latest products, services or breakthroughs, please visit their official website at {{https://www.purestorage.com|www.purestorage.com}}.