Business

NAB Show: IBM Aspera Debuts IBM Aspera On Cloud (MESA)

At the 2018 NAB Show, IBM Aspera unveiled IBM Aspera on Cloud, a new hosted service that provides the fastest way to transfer, exchange, and deliver content from any location to anywhere with anyone.

While media organizations are increasingly adopting a hybrid-cloud workflow that uses a combination of public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises storage and compute resources, moving content has become much more challenging. Files that need to be exchanged are often stored in multiple clouds and on-premises systems. Traditional transfer technologies bridging these environments are slow and unreliable, and physical disk shipments between them are time consuming and expose data to unnecessary security risks.

IBM Aspera on Cloud overcomes the file transfer challenges of the hybrid cloud by allowing media companies to securely and reliably move their content across on-premises and multi-cloud environments at unrivaled speed.

Seamlessly Access and Share Data Stored Anywhere

Whether content is stored on-premises or in the cloud, IBM Aspera on Cloud offers a simple user interface for accessing all of it. A file-system–like structure allows users to easily move folders across data centers and cloud platforms using drag-and-drop. They can directly send large files from on-premises or cloud storage out to clients and partners, and invite them to upload content directly to their storage locations. Access to such transfer functionality and configured content stores are protected by a powerful access control model managed by service administrators.

Move Files at Maximum Speed, Regardless of Network Conditions

IBM Aspera on Cloud offers unrivaled performance for transferring large files and large collections of files across any distance. By fully utilizing available bandwidth, transmissions achieve substantially higher speeds than traditional network transfer technologies. Aspera’s unique direct-to-cloud transport technology moves content from the client all the way into the cloud storage layer, ensuring high-speed transfers and immediate post-transfer data availability.

Securely Collaborate with Anyone Around the World

Enterprise-grade security protects valuable content as it is shared and exchanged with collaborators located anywhere around the world. The service authenticates users upon login, encrypts data in transit and at rest using strong cryptography, and verifies data integrity to protect against man-in-the middle attacks.

Intuitive file sharing and content delivery across a hybrid-cloud environment

Aspera On Cloud’s easy-to-use interface simplifies file uploads, downloads, search, sharing, distribution, and content management across on-premises and cloud storage. Users can:

Drag-and-drop files and folders to transfer to any storage location or to share with other users and groups.
Organize files and users into workspaces, which are secure collaboration areas for groups.
Use inboxes to represent cloud and on-premises storage and enable users to submit content directly to an inbox or to a shared content submission portal.
Compile content into a digital package and distribute to one or more recipients using a straightforward, email-like interface.
Preview media content in thumbnail, keyframe grids and playable media.
Easily find items in very large files stores with search, filter, and sort.
Extend Aspera on Cloud access to the desktop, browser and mobile applications.

Real-time control over file transfers

Aspera On Cloud provides complete visibility and control over the Aspera high-speed transfer environment. It enables media organizations to monitor transfer activities in real time while embedding their brand into every communication and web asset. Users can:

Manage transfer activities, storage usage, and digital packages in real time.
Monitor activity logs and service alerts.
Manage membership in workspaces, user groups and shared inboxes.
Easily create a uniquely branded web presence.
Customize email templates and logos to match their brand identity.

Central administration of hybrid environments

Aspera On Cloud enables media organizations to connect to all their cloud and on-premises storage and remotely manage their transfer nodes with a single easy-to-use interface. Users can:

Store and readily access files and folders in multiple cloud-based and on-premises storage systems.
Configure access to transfer nodes located in their data center or in any market-leading cloud platform: IBM Cloud, AWS, Azure, and Google.
Establish network policies that govern how transfer nodes interact with each other.
Embed sending, sharing and delivery functionality into custom applications using the Aspera API.