A cloud storage gateway is a network appliance or server which resides at the customer premises and translates cloud storage APIs such as SOAP or REST to block-based storage protocols such as iSCSI or Fibre Channel or file-based interfaces such as NFS or SMB.
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According to a 2011 report by Gartner Group, cloud gateways were expected to increase the use of cloud storage by lowering monthly charges and eliminating the concern of data security.
Market
The cloud storage gateway market was estimated at $74 million in 2012, up from $11 million at the end of 2010.
One analyst predicted in 2013 that the cloud storage gateway market might reach US$860 million by 2016. In January 2013, some vendors were CTERA Networks, Emulex, Panzura, Riverbed Technology, Seven10, Sonian Inc., StorSimple, Avere Systems and TwinStrata.
Characteristics
Unlike the cloud storage services which they complement, cloud storage gateways use standard network protocols which integrate with existing applications. Cloud storage gateways can also serve as intermediaries to multiple cloud storage providers. Some cloud storage gateways also include additional storage features such as backup and recovery, caching, compression, encryption, storage de-duplication and provisioning.