The Challenge
Matrix Pointe Software had operated entirely in AWS for years, using AWS Storage Gateway to provide file services backed by Amazon S3. Over time, the organization encountered several architectural limitations that made the existing environment increasingly difficult to scale and manage.
Key challenges included:
● Throughput bottlenecks impacting application performance
● File count and ACL limitations
● Cache disk consistency issues
● Capacity scaling constraints
● Performance degradation within the existing cluster environment
● Limited high availability and disaster recovery capabilities
The organization also needed a solution capable of supporting future SMB workloads involving billions of files and large directory structures, an area where AWS Storage Gateway environments often struggle under heavy load.
Additional limitations of the existing AWS Storage Gateway architecture included:
● Maximum throughput of approximately 0.6 GB/sec
● Single compute instance architecture
● No native multi-AZ deployment support
● No built-in disaster recovery functionality
● Limited support for simultaneous file contention
● Lack of snapshots, quotas, real-time analytics, and multi-protocol capabilities
Matrix Pointe Software wanted a replacement platform that could deliver:
● Better performance
● Fewer operational limitations
● Simplified disaster recovery
● Greater scalability
● Comparable overall infrastructure costs
The Solution
After discovering Qumulo through community recommendations and technical discussions online, Matrix Pointe Software evaluated Cloud Native Qumulo (CNQ) as a direct replacement for its AWS Storage Gateway infrastructure.
The final deployment represented a complete cloud-to-cloud migration within AWS, replacing the organization’s Storage Gateway and direct S3 file infrastructure with Qumulo on AWS.
The new environment includes:
● Multi-AZ hot production cluster
● Multi-AZ cold storage cluster
● Beta/RC environments
● Disaster recovery instances
● Multi-AZ deployment architecture
● Terraform-based automated deployment workflows
Unlike the previous architecture, Qumulo provided:
● Scale-out clustered architecture
● Built-in high availability
● Multi-AZ support
● Integrated disaster recovery
● Immediate cache consistency
● Support for SMB and NFS multi-protocol access
● Real-time analytics and snapshots
● Scalability to hundreds of nodes and TB/s of throughput
Prior to deployment, the customer completed a successful three-month proof of concept to validate scalability, SMB performance, and operational readiness.
Results
Improved Operational Resilience
Matrix Pointe Software implemented a multi-AZ Qumulo architecture that provides integrated high-availability and disaster-recovery capabilities. Failover can now be handled quickly through namespace changes, simplifying recovery operations and reducing operational risk.
Better SMB Performance at Scale
The organization improved support for demanding SMB workloads involving billions of files and large directory structures, addressing performance bottlenecks previously experienced with AWS Storage Gateway.
Simplified Cloud Deployment
Terraform-based deployment workflows enabled the customer’s technical team to rapidly deploy and operationalize the new environment within AWS.
Improved Scalability and Throughput
By moving to Qumulo’s clustered scale-out architecture, Matrix Pointe Software gained access to significantly higher throughput and scalability compared to the previous single-instance gateway model. Qumulo environments can scale from multiple GB/sec to over a TB/sec of throughput while supporting millions of IOPS and significantly larger file system limits.
Benefits
Eliminated Storage Gateway Limitations
By replacing AWS Storage Gateway, Matrix Pointe Software removed several operational constraints, including ACL limits, throughput bottlenecks, file count restrictions, and cache consistency challenges.
Enterprise-Class High Availability and DR
Qumulo delivered built-in disaster recovery and high availability capabilities that were not available in the organization’s previous architecture.
Near Cost-Neutral Modernization
A total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis showed only an approximate $36 per month increase compared to the previous environment, while significantly improving resiliency and operational flexibility.
Future-Ready Scalability
The new cloud-native architecture positions Matrix Pointe Software to scale future legal application workloads without the file system and performance limitations associated with its previous environment.
Expanded Enterprise File Services
The organization gained access to enterprise capabilities unavailable in AWS Storage Gateway, including snapshots, directory quotas, multi-protocol file access, strict locking for multiple writers, and real-time analytics.
Looking Ahead
Matrix Pointe Software plans to continue validating large-scale SMB workloads and stress-testing the environment against real-world application demands involving billions of files and large directory structures.
With Cloud Native Qumulo on AWS, the organization now has a scalable cloud file platform designed to support future growth while improving resilience, simplifying operations, and eliminating the limitations of its previous storage architecture.