Datadobi, a software vendor specializing in data migrations, has created Datadobi Query Language to organize and prepare unstructured data lakes for migrations.
The Datadobi Query Language, similar in structure and syntax to a SQL framework, is now available via opt-in as part of the Datadobi File System Assessment service.
The new language enables Datadobi customers to customize a pre-migration assessment that identifies specific metadata of unstructured data such as access rates, last modified date and data set user ownership. Users can set migration policies according to metadata as well.
Working with metadata information can save users money on future storage costs, Datadobi claims. Custom migration policies with the programming language can dictate what sort of data is moved to colder storage in the cloud or what should remain immediately available in local hardware.
A scripting language that helps users catalog data also enables Datadobi’s technology to become more than a one-time service for customers, said Randy Kerns, senior strategist and analyst at Evaluator Group.
“The next step beyond migration is to do some degree of visualization of your files,” Kerns said. “They’ve gone to the next step of that search, almost a meta-language if you will, of more defining in what you’re searching for.”
Datadobi partners or customers can use the language, as all features and functions of Datadobi Query Language are derived from DobiMigrate’s existing code and reporting tools.
“This has always been there under the covers,” said Carl D’Halluin, chief technology officer at Datadobi. “The migration itself could always handle this. Now, it’s looking more at the content/metadata side of things.”
Datadobi customers have asked for these assessments directly from Datadobi in the past, D’Halluin said. The language puts the ability to create those reports into the hands of the users without the vendor’s intervention.
“There are plenty of reasons you might not need data anymore or at the premium price of primary storage,” he said. “What we saw was customers all have their particular ways to model ownership of data. … Our intent is to give you a map of your data lake and base your decisions purely on the metadata.”
Structured growth for Datadobi
Formalizing a user-friendly scripting language edges Datadobi further into the realm of data management rather than just migration, according to Enrico Signoretti, senior data storage analyst at Gigaom.
“This is part of that journey,” he said. “It’s a simplification [of existing technology] and a building block of a larger data management suite for the company.”
There are more and more customers that want to understand what they have. Enrico SignorettiSenior data storage analyst, Gigaom
Signoretti said Komprise and Hammerspace offer similar, competing cloud migration products to Datadobi. All three are vendor-neutral as well, creating a multiplatform migration niche many public clouds or proprietary vendors have yet to mine.
“The advantage of these guys is they’re multiplatform,” he said. “They’re able to work with everyone, and that’s a big difference.”
The evolution of migration tools into data management is a natural progression, said Krista Macomber, senior analyst at Evaluator Group.
“When we look at the data migration/data management space, a lot of the backup vendors are trying to expand into this area,” Macomber said. “They already have the catalog and insight into this area. This is an evolution to get into a data management-type of functionality.”
Divorced from Datadobi’s growth aspirations, Signoretti said the new language is a useful addition for users to prep for a data lake migration.
“There are more and more customers that want to understand what they have,” he said. “Especially as we talk multi-cloud. Data management is becoming the real key right now. Users are demanding more from their vendors.”
Tim McCarthy is a journalist living in the North Shore of Massachusetts. He covers cloud and data storage news.
