Hexion Data Storage, a next-generation distributed data storage platform, has announced the deployment of a 30 petabyte deep archive storage platform in South Africa, marking one of the largest privately operated archive storage environments in the region.
Purpose-built for organisations facing explosive data growth, increasing cyberthreats and mounting compliance pressures, the platform delivers enterprise-scale archive storage with a strong focus on data sovereignty, security, performance and cost efficiency.
As businesses across Africa continue to generate and retain larger volumes of data, many have turned to low-cost international archive storage platforms to control costs. While these services have helped reduce storage expenditure, organisations are increasingly encountering challenges around data recovery speed, offshore data residency, unpredictable retrieval costs and exposure to internet-based threats.
Hexion’s 30PB archive platform was designed specifically to address these challenges in a locally optimised environment.
Unlike traditional offshore archive storage solutions, Hexion stores all customer data within South Africa, allowing organisations to maintain compliance with local data sovereignty requirements while retaining full control over sensitive information. This is particularly important for sectors such as financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, mining and government, where data governance and regulatory compliance are becoming increasingly critical.
Predictable pricing
To assist customers in managing cost predictability, a pain point of the industry when working with hyperscale cloud operators, Hexion does not charge egress fees, or fees for data retrieval, uploads, network usage, backhaul traffic or per-object access. Customers pay only for the storage they consume, providing predictable pricing and eliminating the hidden costs often associated with large-scale archive recovery.
A further differentiator of the platform is Hexion’s private “dark” storage network, which operates independently from the public internet. This significantly reduces exposure to ransomware, cyberattacks and unauthorised external access. In addition, immutable storage capabilities ensure archived data cannot be modified or deleted, helping organisations strengthen cyber resilience and meet long-term retention requirements.
Meaningful scale
“Our focus was to build archive infrastructure at meaningful scale, locally,” said Hexion MD Stuart Hardy. “Thirty petabytes is not just a storage milestone – it represents a commitment to keeping African data in Africa while delivering the reliability, security and economics organisations actually need.”
The launch reflects growing demand for alternatives to offshore archive storage as organisations reassess the risks associated with international data hosting, escalating cloud retrieval charges and increasing cybersecurity threats.
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Built in South Africa for African operating conditions, Hexion’s archive platform positions itself as a modern alternative for enterprises seeking scalable, sovereign and cyber-resilient long-term data storage.
About Hexion
Hexion focuses on building scalable, high-performance storage services designed to address the industry’s biggest challenges around data sovereignty, cybersecurity, resilience and cost optimisation. For more information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.hexion.co.za/products/archive.