Our use case varies because the product has a few modules. We use it as a backup agent for our endpoints and a centralized storage solution, providing an on-premise caching server that some organizations might call an edge filer. The master file copy lives in cloud storage. It's a complete hybrid storage solution for file management.

We saw the benefits of CTERA almost immediately. The timing was perfect. We were deploying it around the time the global pandemic struck. It put us in a position to provide off-site access to our employees that we couldn't do before. It had a dramatic impact on how we do work. CTERA was exceptionally valuable in the first three to four months

The platform contributes to our organization's success and our employees' ability to work remotely. It makes us more attractive to future employees because we can have them operate off-site without needing them to come to the office and be in the same building as the central storage solution.

CTERA's disaster recovery features have reduced our recovery time. I used it last week for some missing files that we hadn't noticed for a while. We could go back into our snapshots for 14 months and track down the needed files. Once we found them, we could bring them back online within minutes. That was terrific. We've increased efficiency on RPOs and RTOs by 20 percent. We could increase that to 50 percent if we had search access to those archives.

CTERA has been particularly capable of keeping all of our workstations backed up. That became a critical feature for us during the pandemic when computers were rarely in the office. Everybody went off-site with their computers, and we were accustomed to working with a centralized storage infrastructure where people would come to the office and connect to the server to use, create, and modify files. Everything was done directly to that server.

When our staff was no longer coming to the office, some of the file creation was in jeopardy because they were no longer working directly off the file server. Those backups became crucial to keeping the data safe on their local drives. The ability to access our centralized data through a browser interface and an edge filer with SMB or NFS access has made it an excellent solution for us.

The web portal that our users access to view data and backups could be optimized. CTERA could apply some of the improvements made to their administrative interface on the user side. The administrators are a much smaller group of people than the users, so it would be helpful if they targeted user experience resources to them.

They have a product called Drive Connect, a synchronization technology that allows files to be with endpoint workstations. That is a work in progress, and I would love to see some stability on that side of the product because we would love to use Drive Connect throughout our business. It feels like the user experience isn't rich or stable enough for our users' needs.

The versioning and file replication are great. However, the solution is missing one thing: making those snapshots searchable. It can reliably take snapshots and keep versions of our data safe so we can peel back to a previous version, but the feature isn't robust if you need to search for something.

CTERA's onboarding teams are excellent, so it's easy to get it online. Still, it was challenging to understand some of its nuances, so the learning curve was somewhat steep.

We have used CTERA File Services since 2020.

CTERA's stability has been excellent. Some components may have gone offline in a couple of instances, but we've always had access to our data. So from that perspective, we've never been completely offline over the almost five years that we've had the product in play.

CTERA is highly scalable. From our perspective, it appears to be infinitely scalable, but I'm sure some organizations could create more data than us and find a limit.

I rate CTERA support nine out of 10. Their support team is terrific, and their agent is highly available. He's enthusiastic about helping us solve any problem, large or small.

We haven't used anything that would be a direct competitor because CTERA opened our minds to what could be done with hybrid cloud and on-prem storage. Previously, we used only separate on-prem or backup solutions. It's hard to say that I've worked with any product that offers the complete solution that CTERA does.

I've used Windows File-Sharing Service and Extreme ZIP, which bolts onto that. I've used some UNIX-based technologies a long time ago, but probably too long to be relevant.

We have a hybrid deployment. It's running within our server infrastructure. The database, gateway, preview, and portal servers are in-house. We also leverage cloud storage with Wasabi.

The support team is terrific, so they made the initial installation as easy as possible. They came on-site and interviewed us about how we wanted to use it and our objectives, then helped build a system to meet those objectives before turning over the keys. If we exclude the data migration time and look only at the time needed to connect and train users, we were online in four or five days. We had two people from CTERA and two from our team managing the deployment process.

Since then, we've been mostly self-serve for our users. They've been extremely proactive with updates and keeping us on the latest versions. They manage all that for us as well. We don't have to run our own updates. They notify us when there's a stable build and it's time for us to do the install. They booked the time with us. It's as hands-off as you want it to be.

We brought on a new technology we hadn't used before, so we spent more money to get the features. If we compare it to using Nasuni instead, I would say we have reduced the total cost of ownership. However, we're spending more than we were before.

CTERA's pricing model is competitive compared to other companies that achieve the same thing. Their closest rival is Nasuni, and CTERA is significantly more affordable than Nasuni.

I rate CTERA Enterprise File Services eight out of 10. My best advice is to trust the process. CTERA's support team will be by your side and help you figure out how to best use the tools. They're there to make sure you have a successful outcome.

We are using the CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform in two areas. The first is as a platform for our customers, providing a modern infrastructure. The second, more sophisticated use case is for internal usage as our internal file server. We have a huge file system. Currently, it is used internally, but in the future, we might prepare the infrastructure or create applications that will be accessible via the Internet, beyond just internal use.

The most significant benefit is caching. I am providing high-performance NVMe devices for all file systems. Most of the data is stored on an internal S3 cloud, rather than an external one. This internal S3 infrastructure stores all copies of the data, with snapshots for versioning and disaster recovery. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is excellent because we use high-performance storage for mission-critical data, while other data (including voice records and PDFs for customer billing) is stored on more cost-effective infrastructure.

Thanks to caching, after implementation, performance—especially for Citrix VDI access and profiles—improved by 20 to 30 seconds.

Another financial and technical benefit is that we no longer need to rely on external software for backup. We now use the CTERA portal for this. All the snapshots are stored on different S3 storage platform, eliminating the need to pay high licensing fees for tools like Rubrik or Commvault. These tools are also harder to implement and don't offer the convenience of versioning with a simple right-click. Versioning is a great feature, allowing me to restore files from the latest update, bypassing daily backups. Using S3 storage makes it economical and efficient.

Vault is another useful feature. For regulatory compliance, we must retain certain files for seven years, and Vault allows us to store these files without the need for incremental backups. Once a backup is placed in the vault, it is untouchable and cannot be deleted.

CTERA file sync (compressed and deduplicated) is excellent. Additionally, we have two disaster recovery methods: restoring the entire file system through the portal or using storage replication. We test the replication once a year, and we can establish a disaster recovery site in two to three minutes.

Both versioning and replication are critical for meeting our SLAs. Our CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform is fully prepared for disaster recovery. As per our regulations, we must test disaster recovery at least once a year and demonstrate to management that we can establish new sites. The last test showed an RTO of two to three minutes. We haven’t experienced any actual disasters, but regular testing ensures readiness.

Prior to 2018, our infrastructure was unable to even test disaster recovery due to file limitations. For the last five years, we’ve maintained near-zero RTO or even RPO, operating almost asynchronously. Having a very low RTO is critical, and we can reestablish the infrastructure on the new filer in just a few minutes, which represents a substantial improvement.

We’ve also implemented and tested a new feature to prevent ransomware attacks. This is a significant advancement in the NAS world. We recently installed a new version and demonstrated to our CISO how a real ransomware attack could be stopped within seconds, showing that the affected client’s access to the file server was blocked. Fortunately, we haven't faced a real attack, but being able to showcase our protection to management is a significant benefit.

We started seeing benefits immediately after we migrated our Citrix profiles. We had about 2,000 users on our Citrix infrastructure and terminal servers. All login profiles were placed on CTERA. With the previous infrastructure, the login process took 45 seconds, including application startups. After moving the profiles to CTERA, we observed an improvement of at least 20 to 25 seconds.

Another benefit is storage reclamation. We use Dell NVMe PowerMax, which is extremely costly for a small portion of our data. With the CTERA platform, we gain excellent performance for files in the cache, while archived files on S3 are still easily accessible. This combination allowed us to observe improvements from day one. Additional benefits include ransomware protection, versioning, and reduced software costs for backups. We started with 30 to 50 terabytes, and now we manage nearly 300 terabytes.

Choosing CTERA in 2018 was risky, as it was just a startup at the time. However, from my perspective, it has proven to be an excellent decision.

First and foremost, flexibility is highly valuable. I can separate different workloads across various hardware platforms depending on the implementation, without being locked into a particular vendor’s hardware. For example, if I need a special filer for home directories to optimize performance or accessibility, we can create separate virtual machines. We also maintain a large archive because we need to store call recordings from our call center for seven years due to regulatory requirements. By using different virtual machines, we can separate data according to implementation needs and SLAs.

Managing the data is simple since the platform operates on a virtual machine. The interfaces are user-friendly, and after two to three hours of training, our support staff is capable of using the interface to assist customers with file restoration. Adding new infrastructure, servers, and virtual machines is straightforward.

The platform is releasing new features at a fast pace, which sometimes leads to version updates every three to six months. Although updates are generally not complex, it is challenging to stop the production environment during these updates, even if the downtime is just a few minutes. This is a common challenge across all NAS providers.
From my perspective, the most important area for improvement is developing a method to perform updates without affecting customer production environments. Additionally, there are some cache size limitations that might become problematic for future use cases, though they don’t impact current applications.

Collaboration for NFS and SMB protocols could also be enhanced. Although this issue isn't specific to CTERA, it is something we are working on together to improve.

The quality of the versions has improved, but occasional issues still arise. All solutions face this challenge, but we hope to see a continued reduction in the number of bugs. That said, we haven't had any major production problems in the last four years, and we appreciate how responsive CTERA is to our issues. We engage in brainstorming sessions together, and we value this relationship.

We started using CTERA for internal use in 2018. This is now our sixth year in full production. Over that time, we have accumulated about 260 terabytes of S3 storage, 10 virtual machines, and billions of files.

We have experienced no downtime over the last four years where customers couldn’t access data. Occasionally, we’ve encountered synchronization issues, but they have not impacted production.

We hold weekly sessions to review new features and discuss open tickets. I sometimes work directly with CTERA's engineering team when we need new developments. They value our input, and customers like us can provide different perspectives.

Their support team is highly accessible, and they can connect directly to our system. When we need immediate assistance, they provide it promptly.
I would rate them nine out of ten. One of CTERA’s best features is its support and engineering teams.

Our previous infrastructure was based on EMC’s VNX system. After six years with CTERA, we have no plans to replace it.

The transition project was handled by me and one other member of my team. We migrated approximately 100 million files and 50 terabytes of storage from VNX to CTERA.

CTERA is different from other systems. It is a global file system, whereas solutions like NetApp and Dell are more focused on the enterprise without being global. From my experience, many of the features and flexibility I have with CTERA cannot be achieved with NetApp or Dell, largely because CTERA is a software solution and not tied to specific hardware.

This flexibility allows me to separate storage across different network segments. Since we are a telecommunications company with sensitive external customer segments, centralizing everything would be inefficient. With CTERA, I can deploy small virtual machines in each segment and occasionally replicate changes to S3 for backup without additional costs. It’s more efficient, and I can use various types of storage.

Other reasons for the switch were improvements in DRP (Disaster Recovery Plan), financial savings, and performance enhancements.

Initially, the migration was manual. When we started using CTERA, the migration tools they now provide weren’t available. With the current version, customers can migrate from other solutions like NetApp or Dell using these new tools. However, in 2018, we had to follow a traditional manual process, without external assistance, relying solely on my team.

Setting up CTERA and handling the logical integration was challenging because it was a new solution. It took about six months. The concept was new to us, and we decided to proceed slowly, starting with certain folders and Citrix profiles, which were critical to the organization. After one year, we reached stability and began moving the rest of the infrastructure without disrupting the system. Our careful planning was the right approach.

The CTERA support team helped us create the first virtual machine and configure it. Today, they provide various tools, but at the time, everything was done manually. After setting up the first virtual machine and connecting to the portal, we handled the migration and access configurations. We also discovered some protection issues, such as instances where even administrators were unable to move certain files, which required critical manual intervention. That was the most difficult part of the process. The biggest obstacle to the project was copying files, not establishing the system. The interfaces were easy to understand, and today, the migration tools are available and much improved. You can now understand what’s happening with your old infrastructure and plan the best path forward for a smooth cutover.

I manage the storage team. Two team members handle all high-end storage, NAS storage, and object storage, while two others focus on Linux and Unix systems. Overall, three of us, including myself, work with a vast number of platforms.

CTERA management is incredibly smooth, and the experience is markedly different from other NAS infrastructures. Despite having a small team, we have managed to expand our CTERA use cases by at least 100% year over year. Starting with just two file servers, we have grown to ten servers in six years, without increasing headcount. This demonstrates how easy it is to expand and add new features using this solution.

We are planning to implement Vault due to regulatory requirements and are also introducing AI-based antivirus and other features. One of the new capabilities is the ability to create a new filer using the disaster recovery infrastructure in just one minute. This allows us to move all customers to the new filer and restore their files as needed. Last week, we created a new version of our public folder, which contains 50 million files and 35 terabytes.

It’s hard to compare CTERA to others. If, for any reason, my organization decided to replace it with a solution like NetApp, the project would be extremely expensive due to the hardware requirements and the sheer volume of data involved in the migration.

It’s also difficult to compare costs directly since replicating the same model with high-performance storage or other custom features would be extremely costly. However, in terms of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), CTERA is one of the best solutions available in Israel.

I recommend starting with a solid disaster recovery plan. For customers like us, who share two or three sites internally and not over the Internet, this is essential. Also, focus on ransomware protection early on. Test your recovery plan to ensure it works.

If you need an archive system for long-term data retention due to regulations (e.g., seven to ten years), build a separate vault feature rather than mixing it with mission-critical tasks like Citrix profiles, which require higher performance. Office files, by contrast, have different performance needs. CTERA is a great software solution, but ensure you plan your hardware solution accordingly.

For migration, take a step-by-step approach. While there are migration tools available, be prepared to deal with potential permission issues.

Overall, I would rate the CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform a nine out of ten due to the benefits we’ve achieved. We’ve reduced hardware and external software costs, and the solution has provided great value to the company. While there’s always room for improvement, it remains one of the best solutions on the market.

It is our main production file share. Our main reason for going for this solution was the uncontrollable growth of file data. It was unsustainable on our previous platform or technology. We needed something scalable like CTERA, so it was the scalability that we required.

File replication and versioning seem to work very well. We did have some challenges at the beginning, but all of that has been resolved now. It works very well. It does what our users require. Replication is excellent. We needed that, and the versioning is also pretty important.

One of the reasons we chose CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform was the requirements we had to have ransomware protection. Our existing solution at the time would not have met those requirements of being able to restore from a ransomware incident. What we wanted from a platform was the ability to restore a snapshot or restore a file system or data back to a previous point in time, and CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform offered us that. Availability was a very key feature of why we liked the solution. It is effectively like the disaster recovery feature, and that also lends itself to replication. It works very well for our ransomware recovery objectives.

There is business growth due to being able to offer greater storage capacity for them. Before, we were running into storage limitations, and now that we have enabled CTERA, we can accommodate more data and users.

When it comes to reduction in recovery time objectives, we have not used it in that way. However, we are anticipating that our recovery time objectives will come down from over a month to hours or days. Recovery point objectives will also effectively be down to hours.

It is hard to say how much it has freed up IT resources for other projects or tasks. Now that it is fully implemented and fully working, we are spending a lot less time looking after it.

It has drastically reduced the amount of time we used to spend on backups. It is hard to provide the metrics, but six hours a month or something like that would be fair.

The ransomware recoverability feature has definitely helped with our data protection mandates. It has reassured our security teams that we are in a good place with regard to securing the data and being able to recover the data.

A few features are valuable. The first one would be scalability. It is effectively unlimited in scale. The pricing is very fair.

The availability of it is also valuable, and by that, I mean resilience. The architecture of how it is designed means that it is very easy to scale out and we can make it available to users wherever we need it.

More monitoring from the platform would be good. There is some monitoring, but it is paid. It is a chargeable service. It would be good for that to be included in the base. Monitoring would be a good one.

We have been using this solution for at least two years.

We initially ran into a number of bugs. However, as of the last three months, they have largely been ironed out. We did run into some problems in the early days, but its stability is good now. I would rate it an eight out of ten for stability.

I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability. It is used by the entire business, and it is a global organization. It is used globally. We have around 850 users on it.

It is very good. I would rate them an eight out of ten.

We came from EMC. We switched because of scalability and recoverability. We wanted ransomware data recovery and data protection.

There was also a lack of innovation from EMC. We like the modern features of CTERA. EMC was not innovating, and it was sort of a dying product.

It is deployed on-prem. Its deployment was fairly straightforward. It was simple to deploy CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform into our organization’s firewall.

It took us weeks to deploy it initially. It took us about three months to get to grips with it. We are kind of learning every day, but it was not particularly difficult. We were able to make good use of it after a few months.

Its maintenance requires usual system upgrades every three months. It is a one-man job, and we work with CTERA support on that.

We had two people working on it.

We have not measured it, but there is probably a 10% to 15% time-saving. That will grow because we have been spending a lot of time migrating and setting things up, but that has put us in a better position to take advantage of the platform.

I would rate it a six out of ten for pricing. It is fairly priced.

I am not too involved in the pricing of what we used to pay, but it would have reduced the cost of ownership. I cannot give a figure, but the EMC solution was very expensive compared to CTERA. It has definitely saved us money based on our previous EMC system, but I am not responsible for billing.

I would recommend CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform for ease of use, scalability, and price.

We do have disaster recovery enabled, and it is our plan to use it when needed. We have tested it, and it works well.

We are not using CTERA’s Ransom Protect feature. I know there is a new feature for that, but I do not believe we are using a specific feature yet. It is something that we are probably looking to implement, so I cannot say if it has reduced downtime. Even if we had it, it would be hard to say because luckily, we have not been compromised.

I would rate CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform an eight out of ten.