On-Premises Data - Best Method for Uploading to Wasabi

What is the best method for uploading my on-premises data to Wasabi?

Wasabi supports several methods for uploading your on-premises data to Wasabi hot cloud storage:

• Public Internet

• Wasabi Direct Connect

• Wasabi Ball Transfer Appliance

These methods are summarized below along with some recommendations on the optimal approach for different upload volume scenarios.

Public Internet

This approach involves using Wasabi's public internet connections (Wasabi has multiple 10 Gbps connections into each data center) to upload your traffic to Wasabi.  

Pro: You can use your existing internet connection with no additional cost or provisioning.

Con: If you do not have a high-speed connection to the internet, it may take a while to transfer your data to Wasabi. For example, you can transfer 1 TB in approximately 2 hours over a 1 Gbps connection, but to transfer 1 TB over a 50 Mbps connection, it will take approximately 2 days. You can try out your file size versus bandwidth calculations using one of the many tools available (such as the Expedient File Transfer Time Calculator).

Wasabi Direct Connect

Wasabi Direct Connect involves using a private 1 or 10 Gbps connection from your location to a Wasabi data center(s).  

Pro: You get a dedicated direct connection into Wasabi's data center with the highest degree of performance. You also pay the lowest storage price Wasabi offers with no egress charges.

Con: In addition to the monthly port fees that Wasabi charges, you have to work with a network provider to establish a private network connection from your location to a Wasabi data center. This will have added cost and potentially term-based contract requirements (such as a multi-month or multi-year commitment requirement from the network provider). 

Wasabi Ball Transfer Appliance

Wasabi Ball Transfer Appliance involves the rental of a Wasabi Ball Transfer Appliance from Wasabi. With this approach, you request the appliance, Wasabi sends it to you, you copy your data to the appliance, and you send the appliance back to Wasabi. Wasabi will ingest your data from the appliance directly into your Wasabi storage bucket.  

Pros: If you have an internet connection less than 1 Gbps, you do not have to wait for that slow network connection to transfer your data to Wasabi. There are no added costs beyond the transfer appliance rental fee.

Cons: Rather than uploading your files directly to Wasabi over a network connection, you have to upload files to the transfer appliance, send it to Wasabi, and wait for the upload. The logistics of this approach make be inconvenient. Wasabi generally does not support the use of the appliance for migrations less than 50 TB. In addition, the current appliance holds up to 100 TB (this may be a limitation for your use case, though Wasabi does support the use of multiple appliances for the movement of data sets greater than 100 TB).

Recommendations

Although there is no single set of recommendations that will address all use cases, consider the following.

• If you have less than 50 TB to migrate, using the Public Internet approach is your only option (even if it is slow). This is because the cost/provisioning requirements of Wasabi Direct Connect probably do not make sense for migrating less than 50 TB of data. And, Wasabi Ball Transfer Appliance is not an option because Wasabi generally does not support the use of this approach for migrations less than 50 TB.

• If you have more than 50 TB to migrate, you have a choice of either Wasabi Direct Connect or the Wasabi Ball Transfer Appliance(s). The best choice between these two will depend on costs and whether or not you want to deal with the logistics of using an appliance.

Contact Wasabi Sales or Support with questions and the latest pricing information.