Just Say No to VPNs

Why are VPNs so annoying to use? Let’s face it, a VPN can be a hassle, not only for IT but for individual remote users and teams as well. It’s hard to set up, often slow, requires secure access, and causes problems for users on the road. Several factors impact a VPN’s speed and performance.

Server Location—The distance between your server and a user or application makes a big difference in the speed you will receive. The longer the gap between the two, the longer it will take the data packets to travel. VPNs can work fine across an on-prem, low-latency local area network (LAN), but connecting from a distance results in bad user experience.

Server Bandwidth Limitations—Your VPN server directly impacts VPN speed. If you have any bandwidth limitations or your server is overcrowded then speed takes a hit, and so does productivity.

Type of Encryption—If your encryption is weak, speed can drop. Strong encryption is critical for remote work; with ransomware always a consideration, security protocols must be a top priority.

Today’s leading enterprises have a different set of needs.

We’ve taken a different approach to solving the issues of latency, bandwidth, and security associated with remote workforces, users, and applications. LucidLink Filespaces is a log-structured, distributed, cloud-native file service that leverages object storage to deliver virtually high-speed performance and infinite capacity. Filespaces works on top of any cloud object storage and solves the problem of distance and latency in cloud environments.

Let’s address the big issues.

Distance & Latency—We looked at protocols initially created and intended for low latency environments (LANs). As soon as distance is inserted into the equation, things break down very quickly, and performance slows to a crawl. Why? Legacy protocols such as NFS, SMB, and CIFS are inherently “chatty.” Applications tend to query the metadata frequently, resulting in thousands of round trips between the app and the file, while carrying very little data. Each one of these takes time to traverse the distance.

With Filespaces, we integrate into the operating system where these applications natively run and allow data to be delivered as a file stream directly to applications as if it were local. You can read and write directly from the object-store. The data is left where it resides and references all its information as required from the metadata. The result is the constant chatter—seen by protocols such as SMB, NFS, and CIFS—is neutralized, enabling you to run your applications anywhere, while streaming your data directly from the cloud.

Storage—We leverage any object store as the back-end storage and overlay our distributed, streaming architecture. You can mount and use cloud object stores as your distributed file system. Our support of Linux, Windows, and macOS enables you to connect from a cloud server onsite or on edge. By leveraging the cloud, it becomes an extension of your hard drive, making terabytes to petabytes of remote data instantly accessible.

Encryption—Security is one of the central principles underpinning Filespaces, and providing best-of-class encryption for highly sensitive workloads remains a dominant focus for us. With our “Zero-Knowledge” encryption, cloud providers and LucidLink know nothing about the data customers store and transmit on their infrastructure. To achieve this, we encrypt at AES 256 where all data is encrypted starting at the LucidLink local disk cache on the customer device. Data remains encrypted both in transit and at rest with only the customer in possession of the encryption keys. Only the customers can “see” their data.

LucidLink solves the issues associated with VPNs and often diminishes the need to use one. Don’t believe us? Give us a try. We are happy to talk about use cases where VPNs are no longer needed, and how that results in more satisfied employees.