Cloud Storage
Object Storage
amazon object storage uk
A Sovereign UK Alternative to Amazon Object Storage
UK businesses using US-based object storage face escalating risks from unpredictable costs and data sovereignty challenges. A European-built alternative offers a clear path to compliance and control.
Key Takeaways
UK businesses can mitigate risks from the US CLOUD Act and ensure GDPR compliance by choosing a European object storage provider that guarantees data sovereignty.
Eliminating egress fees and API call charges creates a predictable cost model, which is crucial for budget stability and enables MSPs to build profitable services.
Features like S3 Object Lock provide immutable backups, offering a powerful and essential defense against ransomware attacks by making data unchangeable.
For UK IT leaders, selecting the right cloud storage involves balancing performance, cost, and compliance. Dependence on non-EU providers creates significant challenges, including exposure to foreign laws like the US CLOUD Act and budget overruns from opaque fees. This article outlines a strategic alternative: a European, S3-compatible object storage platform. It delivers the performance enterprises expect while ensuring data sovereignty, cost predictability, and robust security—all within a GDPR-compliant framework. Discover how to strengthen your data strategy.
Secure UK Data With European Sovereignty
Storing data with US-based cloud providers exposes UK firms to foreign jurisdictions. The US CLOUD Act allows US authorities to access data held by American companies, regardless of where it is stored. This creates a direct conflict with GDPR principles, undermining the data sovereignty that 51% of SMEs are now scrutinized over by partners and customers. A European provider eliminates this risk entirely.
Impossible Cloud is sovereign by design, operating exclusively in certified European data centers. This ensures your data is governed solely by EU law, providing legal certainty. With country-level geofencing, you gain granular control, keeping data within predefined regions to meet strict regulatory needs. This jurisdictional clarity is a key competitive advantage for any UK business.
Choosing an EU-based provider is a strategic necessity for true data protection. More than 60% of UK IT leaders feel that using US cloud services leaves the country's digital economy vulnerable. By keeping data within a European legal framework, you build a foundation of trust and resilience. This approach prepares your business for the next wave of EU digital initiatives.
Eliminate Unpredictable Costs With a Transparent Model
Hyperscaler pricing models are notoriously complex and create significant budget uncertainty. Hidden charges like egress fees—costs for moving data out of the cloud—can account for 10% to 15% of a total cloud bill. These fees, often around $0.09 per GB, make disaster recovery tests and data migrations unexpectedly expensive. API call charges add another layer of unpredictable operational costs.
Impossible Cloud offers a predictable economic model with zero egress fees and no API call costs. This transparency allows for precise financial planning and protects your margins. For MSPs, this predictability is essential for building profitable BaaS and archiving services. A development environment using production data can generate $1,500 in monthly egress charges with a hyperscaler. Our model removes that variable completely.
This straightforward approach directly addresses a primary industry pain point. It prevents the vendor lock-in that expensive egress fees are designed to create. You gain the freedom to move your data as needed without financial penalties, aligning with the portability goals of the EU Data Act. This empowers you to build a more flexible and cost-effective cloud cost optimization strategy.
Achieve Enterprise-Grade Performance and Compatibility
Migrating to a new storage platform cannot come at the cost of performance or compatibility. Our platform offers full S3-API compatibility, ensuring your existing applications, scripts, and backup tools work without modification. This protects your past investments in technology and skills, minimizing migration risk and eliminating the need for code rewrites. It supports advanced capabilities like versioning and lifecycle management out of the box.
We provide an architecture built for consistency and availability. Here is what you can expect:
An "Always-Hot" object storage model where all data is immediately accessible.
No complex tiering policies that cause restore delays or API timeouts.
Strong read/write consistency for mixed workloads with millions of files.
Multi-AZ replication to eliminate single points of failure.
The "Always-Hot" model simplifies operations and strengthens recovery capabilities. It avoids the fragile tiering that often leads to hidden restore fees and failed backups. This architectural choice ensures predictable latencies and keeps third-party tools stable, a critical factor for any S3-compatible object storage solution. This prepares your infrastructure for scalable growth.
Defend Against Ransomware With Immutable Storage
Ransomware attacks are becoming more sophisticated, with backups targeted in 94% of incidents. A robust defense requires a modern approach to data protection. Our solution includes Immutable Storage using S3 Object Lock, which makes your data unchangeable and undeletable for a specified period. This creates a virtual air gap, rendering data impervious to malicious encryption by threat actors.
When Object Lock is active, even administrative credentials cannot modify the data history outside the retention policy. This protects against both external attacks and insider threats. In the event of an attack, you can restore a clean, unencrypted version of your data, ensuring business continuity. This makes ransomware threats virtually meaningless, as the original files cannot be destroyed.
This feature is a cornerstone of a resilient ransomware posture. It works seamlessly with leading backup tools like Veeam and our partner NovaBackup. By integrating immutable storage into your 3-2-1 backup strategy, you create a last line of defense that is critical for protecting UK data sovereignty and operational integrity. This proactive security measure is essential in today's threat landscape.
Prepare for 2025 EU Regulatory Frameworks
The regulatory landscape is evolving, and UK businesses serving EU customers must adapt. Two key regulations, the EU Data Act and NIS-2, will reshape compliance requirements from 2025. Our platform is designed to meet these future challenges today. We help you stay ahead of changing rules.
Here’s how our service aligns with upcoming regulations:
EU Data Act (September 2025): This regulation mandates data portability and interoperability to prevent vendor lock-in. Our model, with no egress fees and open standards, provides a proven exit path by design.
NIS-2 Directive: This directive requires stricter cybersecurity measures, including supply-chain assurance and rapid incident reporting. Our continuous security processes and EU-controlled operations are baked into the platform.
Proactive compliance offers a significant competitive advantage. The EU Data Act requires cloud providers to facilitate switching within 30 days and bans excessive exit fees. Our architecture already meets this standard. For NIS-2, our focus on robust encryption and EU-controlled key management helps you fulfill your supply-chain security duties. This readiness simplifies your path to maintaining strong data governance.
Enable the UK Channel with a Partner-Ready Platform
We are committed to empowering our UK partners, including MSPs, resellers, and system integrators. Through our UK distributor, Northamber plc, we provide local access and support. Our partner program is built on a foundation of predictability and ease of use. The economic model with zero egress or API fees ensures stable, defensible margins for Backup-as-a-Service and archiving offerings.
Our partner console is designed for efficiency and scale. It delivers the tools MSPs need to manage multiple clients effectively. Key features include:
Multi-tenant management with role-based access control (RBAC).
Identity and Access Management with MFA support.
Full automation capabilities via API and CLI.
Comprehensive reporting and monitoring tools.
Fast onboarding and powerful automation help our partners grow their business quickly. The platform's S3 compatibility ensures seamless integration with the ecosystem of tools MSPs already use, such as NovaBackup. This focus on the channel makes it simple to offer a compelling and compliant alternative to AWS S3. This positions our partners for success in a growing market.
Take Control of Your UK Data Storage Strategy
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FAQ
Why is European data sovereignty important for a UK business?
Data sovereignty is important because it ensures your business's critical data is subject only to the laws of the jurisdiction where it is stored. For UK businesses handling EU citizen data, using a European provider guarantees GDPR compliance and avoids conflicts with foreign laws like the US CLOUD Act, which could compel a US-based provider to hand over your data to US authorities.
What does 'no egress fees' mean for my budget?
No egress fees means you will not be charged for moving your data out of the storage platform. This creates a predictable, transparent pricing model, eliminating the surprise costs that often inflate cloud bills from hyperscale providers. It gives you the freedom to access or migrate your data anytime without financial penalty, preventing vendor lock-in.
How does S3 compatibility simplify migration?
Full S3 compatibility means the storage service uses the same API commands as Amazon S3. This allows your existing applications, backup software, and management scripts to connect and work without any changes. It makes migration seamless, protecting your investment in current tools and saving significant development time and resources.
What is 'Always-Hot' storage?
Always-Hot storage means all your data is stored in a single, high-performance tier and is always immediately accessible. Unlike tiered models that move data to slower, cheaper 'cool' or 'archive' storage, this approach eliminates restore delays and retrieval fees. It simplifies data management and ensures consistent performance for all your applications.
How does Immutable Storage (Object Lock) protect my backups?
Immutable Storage, or Object Lock, protects your backups by making them undeletable and unchangeable for a retention period you define. If a ransomware attack occurs, the malware cannot encrypt or delete your locked backup files. This guarantees you have a clean, uncorrupted copy of your data available for a swift and reliable recovery.
Is this service suitable for Managed Service Providers (MSPs)?
Absolutely. The service is designed for MSPs, offering a multi-tenant management console, automation via API/CLI, and a predictable pricing model with no egress fees. These features allow MSPs to easily manage multiple clients, automate workflows, and build profitable, price-stable services for backup, disaster recovery, and archiving.
