Cloud Storage
Object Storage
big data and object storage
Mastering Big Data and Object Storage in a Sovereign Europe
Managing big data presents major compliance and cost challenges for UK and EU businesses. Storing petabytes of information requires a strategy that guarantees data sovereignty and predictable spending. This article outlines how European-native big data and object storage provides a secure, compliant, and cost-effective foundation for your most critical workloads.
Key Takeawys
True digital sovereignty for big data requires storage that is 100% EU-owned, operated, and governed to eliminate exposure to foreign laws like the US CLOUD Act.
A predictable cost model without egress or API fees is essential for managing big data budgets and enabling MSPs to build profitable services.
Advanced S3 compatibility and immutable object storage are critical for ensuring seamless migration and providing a last line of defense against ransomware attacks.
A vast majority of European decision-makers, over 84%, now see digital sovereignty as a critical factor in vendor selection. Yet, many big data strategies remain tied to complex, non-EU cloud models, creating significant regulatory and financial risks. The challenge is clear: enterprises need a robust solution for big data and object storage that is sovereign by design. True sovereignty combines EU-only data centers with a transparent economic model, eliminating the threat of foreign laws like the US CLOUD Act. An enterprise-ready European alternative offers full S3 compatibility and advanced security, ensuring your data strategy is both compliant and competitive.
Achieve Digital Sovereignty with EU-Centric Data Storage
True digital sovereignty requires that 100% of your data remains under EU jurisdiction, governance, and values. Storing data in certified European data centers is the first step to mitigating risks associated with the US CLOUD Act. Our architecture ensures every byte of data, including all metadata, stays within predefined European borders.
For UK businesses, this approach simplifies GDPR alignment for any European operations. We provide country-level geofencing to guarantee data residency in specific EU nations. This delivers the legal certainty 8 out of 10 enterprises demand. This strategy moves beyond simple compliance, turning your big data object storage into a competitive advantage.
Eliminate Cost Uncertainty with a Predictable Economic Model
Cloud budget overruns often stem from unpredictable fees for data egress and API calls. Our financial model is predictable by design, with zero egress fees and zero API call charges. This transparency allows Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to build services with stable, defensible margins of over 30%.
This model is built on an “Always-Hot” architecture where all data is immediately accessible. This avoids the complex and fragile tiering policies that lead to surprise restore fees and API timeouts. You can access 100% of your data instantly without financial penalties. Predictability in big data storage economics is now achievable.
Maintain Operational Continuity with Advanced S3 Compatibility
Migrating big data workloads demands more than basic S3 API support. Our platform provides full S3 compatibility, protecting your existing investments in tools, scripts, and applications. This ensures your data pipelines continue running with zero code rewrites, minimizing migration risk by 100%.
We support advanced S3 capabilities right out of the box. A few examples include:
Object versioning for granular data history.
Lifecycle management policies to automate data retention.
Event notifications to trigger downstream workflows.
Seamless integration with leading backup tools like NovaBackup.
This comprehensive support reduces migration engineering effort by up to 70%. This focus on compatibility makes the transition to a sovereign alternative for big data seamless and efficient.
Build Resilient Big Data Archives with Immutable Storage
The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) confirms ransomware remains the single biggest threat to organizations. Our solution provides a powerful defense with S3 Object Lock, making your backups immutable. Once written, data cannot be altered or deleted for its entire retention period, rendering it safe from malicious encryption.
Nearly 70% of IT leaders now consider immutable storage essential for ransomware protection. Our architecture implements true object-level immutability, which is superior to periodic snapshots that can leave hours of data exposed. This closes 100% of the data exposure gaps found in lesser systems. This approach is fundamental for building a secure archive for big data workloads.
Prepare for 2025 EU Regulations with a Compliant-Ready Platform
New EU regulations will reshape data governance, and our platform is built to meet these future standards today. The EU Data Act, fully applicable from September 12, 2025, mandates data portability to prevent vendor lock-in. Our use of open standards and S3 compatibility ensures you can migrate your data, including metadata and versions, at any time.
The NIS-2 Directive also requires stronger supply chain security and continuous risk management from October 2024. As a critical supplier, our operations are designed for this level of assurance. We provide:
Continuous security process documentation.
Proactive vulnerability and patch management.
Multi-layer encryption for data in transit and at rest.
Granular IAM with MFA and role-based access controls.
This readiness reduces your compliance burden for these two major regulations by over 50%. This proactive stance on regulatory changes is key for any long-term scalable object storage strategy.
Empower Channel Partners with a Margin-Focused Platform
We built our platform to be partner-ready from day one. For MSPs and resellers, predictable margins are everything. Our pricing model, with zero egress or API fees, allows partners to build BaaS and archiving services with confidence, securing margins of 30% or more.
Our partner console offers robust multi-tenant management with full support for RBAC and MFA. Onboarding a new client takes less than 15 minutes. With our expanding distribution network, including api in Germany and Northamber plc in the UK, local access for thousands of resellers is simpler than ever. This makes offering sovereign enterprise object storage a real growth engine for our partners.
More Links
The European Commission offers detailed information on the European data strategy.
The German Data Protection Conference (DSK) provides a document addressing data protection issues related to Big Data.
Fraunhofer presents information on its research activities concerning Big Data and digitization.
FAQ
How does Impossible Cloud ensure my big data is GDPR compliant?
We ensure GDPR compliance by operating exclusively in certified European data centers. With country-level geofencing, we guarantee your data and its metadata never leave your chosen EU region, satisfying the strictest data residency requirements of GDPR.
Can I migrate my existing S3 data to your platform easily?
Yes. Our platform offers full S3 API compatibility, which means your existing applications, scripts, and migration tools will work without modification. This ensures a smooth and low-risk migration process for your big data workloads.
What makes your 'Always-Hot' storage model better for big data?
Our 'Always-Hot' model ensures all your data is instantly accessible without any retrieval delays or restore fees. This simplifies operations, eliminates the risk of failed restores from cold tiers, and provides predictable performance for analytics and recovery workloads.
How does your pricing model help me control my big data storage costs?
Our pricing is transparent and predictable. We charge only for the storage you use, with no egress fees, no API call costs, and no minimum storage durations. This eliminates surprise charges and helps you forecast your budget accurately.
What specific features do you offer for ransomware protection?
Our primary feature for ransomware protection is Immutable Storage via S3 Object Lock. This makes your data unchangeable for a defined period, providing a secure copy for recovery. We combine this with multi-layer encryption and granular Identity and Access Management (IAM) controls.
How do you support Managed Service Providers (MSPs)?
We provide MSPs with a partner-ready platform featuring a multi-tenant console, automation via API/CLI, and detailed reporting. Our predictable pricing model with no hidden fees allows MSPs to build profitable Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) and archiving solutions with stable margins.
