Vendor Profile

Maginatics: Reimagining Cloud Access

Ashish Nadkarni

IDC OPINION
Most enterprises have undertaken the journey to the cloud in earnest. Today, no enterprise
architecture is considered complete without the inclusion of a cloud element whether it is public,
private, or even hybrid cloud. The economics and agility of the cloud are too good to pass up in favor
of traditional datacenter buildouts. In particular, by adopting the cloud, enterprises can benefit greatly
from a reduced infrastructure TCO, a shift from capex to opex, and a newfound agility that enables
them to react far more quickly to changes in business conditions. However, adopting cloud delivery
models is fraught with challenges the chief among them being that traditional access mechanisms
are still used to provide users and applications access to their data. The file abstraction and file access
requirements are not going away anytime soon. The industry as a whole has over four decades of
experience and investment building mission-critical applications that rely on a file system interface. It is
possible to write or rewrite applications directly to cloud APIs, but very few enterprises are either
capable of or open to this undertaking en masse. This situation is further compounded by the
globalization of the enterprise and the resulting change in storage access. Multiple teams need to
access and share the same files across the globe in tandem and often at times from multiple devices,
including smartphones and tablets. Maginatics is a Silicon Valley firm that exited stealth mode in 2012
and was founded with the goal of accelerating cloud adoption in the enterprise. However, unlike other
firms that are also solving the same problems, Maginatics has focused its MagFS solution on solving
the primary challenges that inhibit enterprise cloud adoption for user and application access.
Maginatics is marketing its MagFS platform as a cloud file system that enables customers to:

Provide concurrent, consistent, scalable, and secure access to customers' shared data sets
across global offices, mobile users, and across multiple devices.

Elastically and economically scale workloads that require traditional file-based data access
interfaces into the cloud without compromising performance.

Introduce a cloud-enabled storage platform into customers' existing datacenter environments

without any disruption and integrate it seamlessly with existing enterprise workflows, toolsets,
and applications.

Combine the end-user capabilities of sync-n-share solutions (also known as cloud-based

enterprise collaboration solutions) with the enterprise file access features of cloud gateway
solutions, thereby providing enterprises with a one-stop solution for the cloud.

September 2013, IDC #243198

IN THIS VENDOR PROFILE

This IDC Vendor Profile reviews Maginatics, a supplier of cloud storage software for the enterprise.
Maginatics markets its principle platform MagFS as a cloud file system one that combines modern
end-user capabilities offered by cloud-based sync-n-share solutions, the enterprise cloud-enabled file
access features provided by cloud gateways, and the benefits of an efficient in-cloud file system.
Maginatics offers MagFS as an enterprise software solution and not as a service.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Company Overview
Maginatics is a storage software supplier based in Mountain View, California. It exited stealth mode in
late 2012. It was founded on the premise that traditional datacenter-based storage infrastructures
cannot scale to meet modern end-user data access requirements and that for enterprises the cloud is
too good to pass up because of the benefits it offers. According to Maginatics, its software-only
storage solution simplifies and modernizes enterprise storage. Known as MagFS, this solution brings
the agility and economics of cloud storage into the enterprise in a way that meets the most stringent
security, scalability, and data-accessibility requirements. MagFS addresses applications and
workloads for both traditional and mobile users and applications without disrupting existing workflows.
Maginatics is targeting specific industries like life sciences, media and entertainment, and
architecture/engineering/construction and enterprises with many Web-enabled assets.
The management team at Maginatics has background in distributed systems, storage, data and
network optimization, virtualization, end-user mobile computing, and a host of related disciplines. The
company brings together alumni from the world's top engineering schools; leading technology firms
such as VMware, Cisco, Riverbed, Microsoft, HP, Apple, Google, Yahoo!, and several former
members of the Carnegie Mellon's Parallel Data Lab. Professor M. Satyanarayanan, the coinventor of
the famed Andrew and Coda File Systems, sits on the board of advisors of Maginatics.
With the cloud "revolution" in full swing, the persistence of file-based access and the ever-increasing
demands on storage systems to permit distributed access to centralized data, the founders of
Maginatics saw a clear need for a "file system for the cloud." Such a platform would not only need to
meet all of these needs but, in order to be an enterprise- and/or service providergrade solution, have
to do so in a seamless nondisruptive manner. With such a platform, the founders wanted enterprises to
embrace the cloud to complement or supplement traditional file-based solutions immediately. While
some of the cofounders and advisors of Maginatics are credited with doing ground-breaking work in
the development of some of the earliest distributed file systems, it was not until recently that a "perfect
storm" arose to make a file system for the cloud both possible and critically needed. That "storm"
consisted of the advent of cloud itself and broadband connectivity and the proliferation of smart
devices like smartphones, tablets, glasses, and soon watches.
Maginatics is privately funded by investors that include VMware, Intel Capital, Comcast Ventures,
WestSummit Capital, and Atlantic Bridge. It has received $27 million in funding so far via Series A and
B rounds.

#243198

2013 IDC

The MagFS Cloud File System

MagFS or what Maginatics calls its cloud file system could be viewed, at least in part, as a fusion of
cloud-based sync-n-share solutions that provide modern day mechanism for end-user collaboration
and cloud gateways that extend the cloud into the datacenter via traditional file access mechanisms.
Key differentiators of MagFS include:

The same ease of access to data as sync-and-share solution but at an enterprise scale. Unlike
sync and share, MagFS can scale to very large teams and data sets and delivers all the
benefits of a distributed file system such as strong data consistency, application compatibility,
and global locking at both the file and the byte-range level.

The added benefits of cloud gateways and more. Like cloud gateways, MagFS can replace
storage appliances in branches by connecting branches to the cloud. Many businesses
consider cloud gateways when mobile access is not a priority for them. With one or two
exceptions, most cloud gateways cannot preserve consistency among peers, and this limits
their deployment to scenarios where collaboration is not required. MagFS overcomes this
limitation by offering file-locking capabilities at the file-access level and even the byte-range
level but also by preserving consistency between stationary and mobile access mechanisms.

These capabilities make MagFS an ideal platform for the "global office," where teams are no longer
confined to four walls or a single campus. This includes interoffice as well as intraoffice collaboration
and enablement of a truly mobile workforce. Furthermore, since MagFS requires no physical
appliances, it is easy to deploy in any environment.
MagFS is based on a split data and control plane architecture that is foundational to the system's
scalability. MagFS consists of the following three components:

Server component. Distributed as a set of virtual appliances, this component can be hosted in
the customer's datacenter or in the cloud. It is the nerve center of the system and provides
centralized control and management. It acts as a metadata sever, arbitrating all data
operations that take place directly between endpoint devices and the object store. It hosts
encryption keys and interfaces with the native enterprise identity management platforms like
Active Directory or LDAP/Kerberos-based systems. It is out-of-band of the data path,
eliminating any bottleneck potential.

Native endpoint agent. It links the clients (endpoints) to the central system. It essentially
extends all system benefits security, scalability, performance, and accessibility from end to
end. For cases where a native agent is not an option, an optimized Web interface is provided.
Presently, Maginatics supports traditional laptops and desktops, mobile clients, servers, and
virtual machines as endpoints. It plans to extend support for set-top boxes, cameras with
sensors, and virtually any other device that produces or consumes data.

Object store. Customers select this service or platform when they plan the initial deployment.
Maginatics supports all major public cloud storage (AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, HP Cloud
Services, Microsoft Azure, Rackspace, etc.) as well as the building blocks of both private and
public objects stores including EMC Atmos, any OpenStack Swift variant, Scality RING, Basho
Riak CS, and Cloudian.

2013 IDC

#243198

Some of the enterprise-grade features of MagFS are:

A click-through provisioning interface

A platform that is fully compatible with Windows and most POSIX-compliant systems,
including multiple Linux distributions

Strong data consistency enabled by both file-level and byte rangelevel locking

Full support for Windows access control lists (ACLs)

Native WAN optimization to speed access over distance (This includes global inline
deduplication as well as compression, compounded operations, prefetching, and other
proprietary techniques.)

End-to-end security including in-datacenter metadata, centralized key management, data

integrity checks, fine-grained access control over any element of the file system, and AES-256
encryption for data in the cloud, on endpoints and in-flight.

Continuous data protection via unlimited, in-cloud, systemwide, and user-readable snapshots

Native disaster recovery (DR) and high availability (HA)

A Web client when a native client is not an option

Scale-out namespaces that enable users to combine multiple MagFS shares into a single
namespace, providing seamless scale-out shared capacity with location transparency

Company Strategy
Maginatics plans to initially leverage its two primary uses cases: geographically distributed data
access and an in-cloud file system. It believes that its MagFS platform has significant advantages
versus its competitors that cannot offer the variety of capabilities that MagFS can in a single solution,
therefore requiring businesses to invest in multiple separate solutions, including one for NAS
consolidation and yet another for in-cloud file system. Maginatics plans to eventually expand to
address the entire NAS market by both riding and driving the transition to cloud architectures.
Maginatics plans to heavily leverage indirect sales channels to deliver its solution. Sales today are an
even mix of direct and indirect deals; however, as it builds out its partnerships, Maginatics expects to
transition to a heavily weighted indirect sales model. For a company in an early stage, Maginatics
already has paying customers in both the United States and EMEA. According to Maginatics, it
continues to see strong demand worldwide. This means that it has to do a balancing act in expanding
globally while managing cash flow. An indirect sales model will help Maginatics here, but it will be at
the expense of heavy relationship building on its part.
Maginatics plans to focus on enterprise and service provider markets. It believes that there are two
principal groups of prospects that it can go after:

The capabilities of MagFS make it an optimal solution for organizations with a distributed or
mobile workforce. These includes businesses in sectors such as banking and insurance,
architecture, engineering and construction, legal, high tech, consulting and professional
services, media and entertainment, and discrete manufacturing to name a few.

#243198

2013 IDC

MagFS is also an optimal solution for organizations that want to move workloads to the cloud,
especially workloads that are highly parallelized and scale out in nature. Examples of such
workloads are multistep genomic analysis, render farms, financial modeling applications, and
large-scale Web content management systems.

FUTURE OUTLOOK
The growing popularity of cloud-enabling technologies like sync-n-share solutions and cloud gateways
only means that businesses are realizing the benefits of making cloud (as a service) platforms an
integral part of their infrastructure. While the end-user side is much further along in terms of becoming
cloud enabled, traditional datacenter-based applications are laggards. Both groups present their own
sets of challenges:

Lack of an enterprise file sharing solution means that users resort to using consumer-grade
sync-n-share solutions. Businesses desperately need a solution that supplements traditional
"NAS" environments with cloud-based file sharing capabilities, which can then be used as the
corporate collaboration solution.

Converting traditional applications to leverage the cloud is a capex-heavy and time-intensive

endeavor. In the short term, they need solutions that provide cloud gatewaylike capabilities
that can extend the cloud into the datacenter and offer traditional but complete file-access
mechanisms.

Businesses that have users and applications sharing data sets globally cannot implement two
separate and disparate solutions. They need a single solution that can map mobile access to
traditional access and vice versa.

In the era of a software-defined datacenter, businesses should not have to deal with the
overhead of installing additional hardware appliances to use the cloud as a vehicle to connect
remote/branch offices, let alone mobile users, to the central datacenter. A software-based
solution that installs itself inside existing virtual infrastructure is always welcome.

Platforms like MagFS can only be successful as long as they can offer a single solution for all four
challenges but more importantly do so in a scalable fashion and without compromising any of the
enterprise-grade features that are offered by traditional data solutions. IDC expects that the battle for
dominance in this market will be largely fought between the incumbent storage suppliers and the
current swath of sync-n-share and cloud gateway providers. Companies like Maginatics will play a
disruptive role in this nascent market as it will force each group to seriously consider features that they
don't currently support. Eventually, IDC expects that most suppliers will follow the path that Maginatics
is laying out meaning that they will need to support both traditional and modern access mechanisms
and support both traditional and cloud-based storage platforms.

2013 IDC

#243198

ESSENTIAL GUIDANCE

Advice for Maginatics

As the new kid on the block, Maginatics finds itself in the unique position of competing with three
groups of suppliers each of whom have been in the market longer and have more mature products:

Cloud-based sync-n-share providers. Suppliers like Dropbox, Box.net, SugarSync, and

Copy.com are all vying for a piece of the enterprise collaboration market. Having successfully
played in the consumer/prosumer space, they have had the opportunity to make their products
mature and stable. Armed with a solid platform, each of them is trying to go upmarket and gain
a foothold in enterprises. However, what they lack today are key enterprise features such as
authentication with corporate platforms like Active Directory, isolated corporate level
multitenancy, enterprise-grade security, robust policy management schemes and, more
importantly, the ability to provide traditional consistent file systembased access to their user
data.

Cloud gateway providers. Suppliers like Panzura, Nasuni, TwinStrata, and CTERA have
created a market by extending the cloud into the datacenter. With an intelligent file-based
caching solution that leverages on-premises-based disk and SSD resources, their solutions
can provide file-based access to cloud resources within the same latency and IOPS ranges as
traditional file-based (NAS) solutions. In fact, some suppliers like Panzura even feature global
file locking that is beneficial to some of the same industries that Maginatics is pursuing.

Incumbent storage suppliers. Suppliers like EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, and NetApp
have cloud-enabling solutions (e.g., EMC Atmos) that supplement their traditional storage
platforms. While such suppliers may have less of an incentive to allow businesses to bridge
their solutions to the cloud, they are diligently evaluating this space to ensure they do not lose
market share to the cloud. Suppliers like EMC and NetApp have also hedged their bets and
acquired enterprise-ready sync-n-share solutions (others like HDS have developed them inhouse) that will be offered as add-ons to their existing solutions. They are also making their
platforms more economically viable and offer a stiff rebuke to anyone trying to convince their
clients of moving some of their data assets into the cloud.

Taking on all three groups at the same time may appear intimidating to Maginatics at first. However, as
a start-up, Maginatics is in a position to play under the radar of all three groups as it quietly builds out
its MagFS platform. Along the way, Maginatics can continue building out partnerships and with
successful customer acquisitions build a formidable mindshare in the enterprise. A modest and lowkey approach will help Maginatics to learn from its experience in the enterprise and add features that
will truly differentiate its platform from the competition. One such area is the amalgamation of compute
and storage by moving MagFS to the compute and/or hypervisor layer, Maginatics can offer a unique
value proposition to enterprises that want to minimize the infrastructure in remote/branch offices.
IDC also expects that for Maginatics to take itself to the next level, it will need to partner with
application and platform suppliers. It may find that suppliers like VMware, Red Hat, and Microsoft may
be willing to embed components of MagFS into their own platform to enable direct cloud access.
Application suppliers may be willing to partner with Maginatics as it provides a quicker mechanism to
"cloud enable" their platforms without extensive investments. New and upcoming public cloud

#243198

2013 IDC

providers may be interested in partnering with Maginatics to accelerate the adoption of their own
service. And finally, Maginatics could partner with some of the newer DR-as-a-service and dataprotection-as-a-service providers to extend the use cases for MagFS.

LEARN MORE

Related Research

Ceph: An Emerging Converged Platform for the Enterprise (IDC #242140, July 2013)

Red Hat Summit Message: All-In on OpenStack (IDC #lcUS24189013, June 2013)

Worldwide Enterprise Storage Systems 20132017 Forecast: Customer Landscape Is

Changing, Defining Demand for New Solutions (IDC #241033, May 2013)

OpenStack: Why It Matters and to Whom (IDC #240517, April 2013)

IDC's Worldwide Software-Based (Software-Defined) Storage Taxonomy, 2013 (IDC #240500,

April 2013)

Shared Nothing Architectures A Blueprint for Software-Based Scale-Out Solutions (IDC

#239526, February 2013)

IDC's Worldwide File- and Object-Based Storage Taxonomy, 2013 (IDC #239143, January
2013)

Worldwide Storage 2013 Top 10 Predictions: Market Transformation from Convergence,

Cloud, and Scale-Out Strategies (IDC #238996, January 2013)

Scality: Defining Unified Software-Based Scale-Out (IDC #238458, December 2012)

Worldwide Enterprise Storage Systems 20122016 Forecast Update (IDC #237886, November
2012)

Red Hat as a Storage Solutions Provider (IDC #237976, November 2012)

How Distributed File Systems Are Rewriting the Future of the Storage Ecosystem (IDC
#236517, August 2012)

Worldwide File-Based Storage 20122016 Forecast: Solutions for Content Delivery,

Virtualization, Archiving, and Big Data Continue to Expand (IDC #235910, July 2012)

The Future for Namespaces in File-Based Storage (IDC #236010, July 2012)

Worldwide Storage and Virtualized x86 Environments 20122016 Forecast (IDC #235868, July
2012)

Worldwide Enterprise Storage Systems 20122016 Forecast (IDC #234990, May 2012)

Worldwide Storage and Virtualized Environments 20112015 Forecast (IDC #231080,

December 2011)

Worldwide Enterprise Storage Systems 20112015 Forecast Update (IDC #228255, May
2011)

2013 IDC

#243198

Worldwide Storage and Virtualized x86 Environments 20102014 Forecast (IDC #224344,
August 2010)

#243198

2013 IDC

About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory
services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology
markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make factbased decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1000 IDC analysts
provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in
over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our
clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading
technology media, research, and events company.

Global Headquarters
5 Speen Street
Framingham, MA 01701
USA
508.872.8200
Twitter: @IDC
idc-insights-community.com
www.idc.com
Copyright Notice
This IDC research document was published as part of an IDC continuous intelligence service, providing written
research, analyst interactions, telebriefings, and conferences. Visit www.idc.com to learn more about IDC
subscription and consulting services. To view a list of IDC offices worldwide, visit www.idc.com/offices. Please
contact the IDC Hotline at 800.343.4952, ext. 7988 (or +1.508.988.7988) or sales@idc.com for information on
applying the price of this document toward the purchase of an IDC service or for information on additional copies
or Web rights.
Copyright 2013 IDC. Reproduction is forbidden unless authorized. All rights reserved.