Ellen Rubin joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss edge computing and the new need for data management in more places as the world goes from static storage to mobile, multicloud madness.

Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief

July 16, 2019

2 Min Read
Podcast: ClearSky Data CEO Ellen Rubin Knows Where Your Data Is

Keeping up with data storage -- and keeping data safe -- is a more complex undertaking for companies now that most of their data is being processed in multicloud environments and consumed on mobile devices. The advent of edge computing will add even more variables for people to figure out what data needs to be stored where, and when.

"The idea of having your copies [of data] spread around like that is both incredibly complicated and expensive," Ellen Rubin, CEO of ClearSky Data, told Light Reading, during a recent podcast appearance. Her company developed a way for data protection, disaster recovery and storage to be part of the same service -- a service that "covers the entire life cycle of the data."

Rubin is formerly a co-founder of CloudSwitch, a cloud management software company she sold to Verizon in 2011. She said there's a parallel between edge computing's early days and the first telco forays into the cloud computing market. Then as now telcos had a tough time deploying technology in an agile way, engaging hundreds of developers and making the technology interoperable and scalable, she said.

Rubin's current company, ClearSky Data, is a managed service provider that deals with enterprise data management and storage problems. The company has spent many years developing its caching technology which "makes sure the data that needs to be very, very high performance and kept close to the edge is always there," she said.

ClearSky Data recently worked with Packet for an edge computing deployment at the SBA Communications cell tower site, where ClearSky is providing storage, backup and disaster recovery. Rubin said these sorts of deals make sense and she expects to see many more as the edge computing market grows. "Everybody's really thinking about networking and compute and maybe even real estate -- and nobody is thinking about data management," she said.

The Light Reading podcast is available on Google Play, Apple Podcasts Spotify and SoundCloud.

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Phil Harvey, US Bureau Chief, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

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