‘Virtual Tape’ provider LUMINEX and storage startup Nirvanix have teamed up to offer a cloud-based enterprise backup solution that is specifically targeted at mainframe users.

Physical tape, shipping and off-site storage all leave a mark on a customer’s bottom line when they’re using traditional backup, not to mention the inaccessibility of all that data. This is another issue which can potentially lead to days of delay in not just recovery time, but also decision-making.

Luminex CloudSAFE offers an alternative in the form of a vaulting service that stores tape volumes in the Nirvanix Cloud Storage Network, and is supposedly more cost-efficient than doing it the other way around. It also solves the accessibility issue by making that data available instantly from any number of locations.

CloudSAFE can be used in mainframe environments thanks to Luminex’s Channel Gateways, with controllers that enables storage systems from different vendors (now including Nirvanix) to be used as backup in a legacy deployment.

“Mainframe customers now have a new option for secure offsite storage of mission-critical data,” said Scott Genereux, President and CEO, Nirvanix. “With Luminex CloudSAFE, they can gain the same economic benefits, including consumption-based pricing, of storing, securing and accessing data via the Nirvanix Cloud Storage Network as our open and distributed systems users and truly implement an enterprise-wide cloud storage strategy.”

Nirvanix is expanding across several different directions at once. This latest partnership provides an opportunity in the mainframe market, but the recent hire of Dru Borden suggests that the company is also going after the media industry.

Nirvanix’s new chief strategy officer was the head of cloud infrastructure for CBS and NBCUniversal before jumping aboard. His 15 years of experience in the industry are coupled by a deep understanding of content providers’ IT demands and requirements.