Backup Solutions
Archival Storage
secure object storage data archiving
Achieve Sovereign Data Archiving with Secure, Predictable Object Storage
Enterprises face a dual challenge: managing archival data growth while navigating complex EU regulations and unpredictable costs. A new approach to secure object storage data archiving offers a solution that is sovereign by design.
Key Takeawys
True data sovereignty requires storage from an EU-owned and operated provider to fully mitigate risks from non-EU laws like the CLOUD Act.
A predictable cost model with zero egress fees and zero API call costs is essential for eliminating vendor lock-in and enabling accurate budget forecasting for data archives.
An 'Always-Hot' storage architecture combined with Immutable Object Lock provides instant data access for rapid recovery and robust protection against ransomware.
The demand for European data sovereignty is now a primary criterion for over 60% of IT leaders when selecting cloud services. Storing long-term archives securely requires more than just capacity; it demands a strategy that guarantees regulatory compliance, cost predictability, and instant data accessibility. Traditional cloud models often introduce risks like non-EU government data access and surprise egress fees that can inflate budgets by 30% or more. This article outlines a modern framework for secure object storage data archiving, focusing on an EU-centric, S3-compatible platform built to eliminate lock-in and meet the stringent demands of GDPR, the EU Data Act, and NIS-2.
Fortify Data Archives with EU-Centric Sovereignty
Ensuring the sovereignty of archived data is a primary concern for 9 out of 10 European businesses. Regulations like GDPR impose strict rules on data handling, yet non-EU laws such as the U.S. CLOUD Act create a direct legal conflict, potentially exposing EU data to foreign government access. This jurisdictional risk undermines the core principles of European data protection.
A truly sovereign solution requires more than just locating a data center within Europe; it demands that the entire storage platform is under EU governance. Impossible Cloud provides this assurance with certified European data centers and country-level geofencing, guaranteeing your data for cloud data privacy remains under EU rules. This architecture provides 100% legal certainty and avoidance of CLOUD Act exposure.
This EU-only operational model is the first step to building a compliant archive. By storing data exclusively within this framework, organizations meet the foundational requirement of GDPR: keeping EU data protected within the EU. This approach prepares your organization for the next challenge: managing costs and access.
Eliminate Cost Uncertainty in Long-Term Storage
Unpredictable costs are a major pain point for over 70% of companies using hyperscale cloud storage for archives. Egress fees and API call charges can increase total storage costs by 40% annually, making budget forecasting nearly impossible. A transparent economic model is essential for sustainable data archiving solutions.
Impossible Cloud addresses this with a predictable pricing structure that contains zero egress fees, zero API call costs, and no minimum storage duration. This model is particularly beneficial for MSPs and resellers, enabling them to build services with stable, defensible margins. The upcoming EU Data Act, which will ban data egress fees by 2027, validates this fair-pricing approach.
A predictable cost model delivers several key advantages for your secure object storage data archiving strategy:
Budgetary Stability: Forecast your storage expenses with 100% accuracy, regardless of data access patterns.
Operational Freedom: Restore, access, or move your archived data anytime without financial penalties.
Increased ROI: Eliminate surprise fees that erode the cost-effectiveness of your long-term storage.
Partner Profitability: MSPs can offer competitive Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) with predictable margins of at least 25%.
This economic clarity removes the risk of vendor lock-in. With no financial barriers to exit, you retain full control over your data and your budget. This freedom allows for a focus on architectural resilience and data availability.
Activate Instant Access with an Always-Hot Architecture
Traditional archival storage often involves complex tiering, where data is moved to colder, slower storage to save costs. This approach introduces significant operational friction, with restore delays that can last hours or even days, impacting business continuity for 1 in 3 affected companies. An always-hot storage model eliminates this complexity entirely.
All data stored with Impossible Cloud is immediately accessible, reducing operational complexity by over 50% and ensuring third-party backup and recovery tools function without API timeouts. This “Always-Hot” model means your archives are as available as your production data, a critical factor for rapid recovery. For robust data resiliency, this instant access is non-negotiable.
Strengthen Ransomware Defense with Immutable Storage
Ransomware attacks continue to grow in sophistication, with recovery costs averaging over 1.5 million euros. A key defense is making your backup archives immune to modification or deletion. This is achieved with Immutable Storage using Object Lock, a core feature of our platform.
Object Lock creates a write-once-read-many (WORM) state for selected data. Once enabled, an object cannot be altered or deleted for a defined retention period, providing a guaranteed-unaltered copy for recovery. This feature, combined with multi-layer encryption and IAM controls, forms a formidable defense for your secure object storage data archiving. This robust security posture is essential for meeting modern compliance standards.
Ensure Future-Proof Compliance with 2025 EU Regulations
The European regulatory landscape is evolving, with two key pieces of legislation taking full effect from 2025: the EU Data Act and the NIS-2 Directive. The EU Data Act mandates data portability and interoperability, requiring cloud providers to offer a clear exit path. Impossible Cloud’s S3-compatible, no-egress-fee model aligns perfectly with this principle of no lock-in.
The NIS-2 Directive imposes stricter cybersecurity requirements, including continuous security processes and supply-chain assurance. Our platform's security features are baked into its operations, not added as an afterthought. This proactive stance on compliance gives your business a competitive advantage.
To prepare for these regulations, enterprise buyers should expect a provider to meet this 7-point checklist:
Advanced S3 Compatibility: Full support for versioning, lifecycle management, and event notifications.
Resilient Architecture: Multi-AZ replication and an “Always-Hot” model for 100% data accessibility.
Granular IAM: Role-driven policies and support for external IdPs via SAML/OIDC.
EU-Controlled Security: Verified encryption and Immutable Object Lock for audit-ready retention.
Regulatory Readiness: Built-in alignment with the EU Data Act and NIS-2.
Transparent Economics: Guaranteed service levels with no hidden egress or API fees.
Proven Portability: An open-standards approach that preserves your freedom of action.
Meeting these criteria ensures your secure object storage data archiving strategy is not just compliant today, but ready for tomorrow. This readiness is especially valuable for our partners, who can extend these compliance benefits to their own customers.
Accelerate Partner Growth with a Predictable Margin Engine
For Managed Service Providers, resellers, and system integrators, profitability depends on predictable service delivery costs. The Impossible Cloud partner program is built on this principle, offering a platform that is predictable by design. The absence of egress and API fees allows partners to build BaaS and archiving services with stable margins of 30% or more.
Our partner-ready console simplifies operations with multi-tenant management, role-based access control (RBAC), and integrated reporting. Automation via a full-featured API and CLI allows for seamless integration into existing workflows, reducing onboarding time by up to 50%. This focus on operational efficiency is a core part of our secure object storage value proposition.
We are expanding local access for our partners across Europe, with recent distribution agreements signed with api in Germany and our first UK distributor, Northamber plc. These partnerships provide over 1,000 new resellers with direct access to our sovereign cloud storage. This growing ecosystem, including collaborations with backup leaders like NovaBackup, empowers our partners to deliver compliant and profitable data protection services.
More Links
Wikipedia provides a comprehensive overview of data sovereignty.
The German Federal Archives discusses digital long-term archiving.
The Data Protection Conference provides information on various data protection topics.
FAQ
Is Impossible Cloud fully S3 compatible?
Yes, Impossible Cloud offers full S3-API compatibility. This means your existing applications, scripts, backup tools, and SDKs will continue to work without any code rewrites, ensuring a seamless migration and protecting your past technology investments.
How does Impossible Cloud ensure my data stays in the EU?
We are a European company that operates exclusively in certified European data centers. We provide country-level geofencing to ensure your data is stored in predefined regions under strict EU rules, guaranteeing compliance with GDPR and protecting you from the extraterritorial reach of the U.S. CLOUD Act.
What makes your pricing model predictable?
Our pricing is transparent and predictable because we have eliminated common hidden costs. We charge only for the storage you use, with no egress fees for data retrieval, no API call costs, and no minimum storage duration requirements.
Can I use Impossible Cloud for my Veeam or other backup software?
Absolutely. Our S3-compatible object storage integrates out-of-the-box with leading backup software providers, including Veeam and our partner NovaBackup. You can easily configure our storage as a target for your backup and archive jobs, including setting up immutable backups with Object Lock.
What is 'Always-Hot' storage?
Always-Hot storage means all your data is immediately accessible at all times, with no delays for restores from a 'cold' or 'archive' tier. This simplifies your architecture, eliminates restore fees and delays, and ensures your applications and recovery processes are always predictable and performant.
How do you support MSPs and channel partners?
We provide a partner-ready platform with a multi-tenant console, RBAC, MFA, and full automation via API/CLI. Our predictable pricing model with no egress fees allows partners to build profitable BaaS and archiving services with stable margins. We are also expanding our European distribution network, with partners like api (Germany) and Northamber plc (UK).
