What is CTERA Direct Mode

Configuring Direct Mode for a storage node results in data being uploaded and downloaded directly to and from the storage node and not via the portal.

Storage nodes that support the S3 can be set to use Direct Mode, for example the Dell EMC ECS (S3), IBM Cloud Object Storage (S3), and Wasabi (S3) storage nodes.

Using Direct Mode can improve the transfer speed for data to and from the CTERA Edge Filers or CTERA Drives (Agents) up to 10 times faster than without Direct Mode, dependent on factors such as the disk type, network latency, and whether antivirus software is running on the portal. Network latency between the endpoint and the CTERA Portal is reduced as data is chunked and transferred in parallel directly to the storage node by up to 100 concurrent connections per endpoint. Only the metadata is transferred to the CTERA Portal from the endpoint. The bigger the file the better the transfer rate when compared to non-Direct Mode.

When Direct Mode is set, data is passed to and from the storage node securely, using HTTPS.

Direct Mode is ideal for distributed data-intensive workloads, such as media files, healthcare imaging, video surveillance. As of version 7.5, with Direct Mode, media files are streamed from the storage node so that access to the file contect can start almost immediately.