Open source storage provides a technological foundation that enables companies to combine scalability, GDPR compliance and digital sovereignty – independently of large cloud providers or proprietary platforms in the long term.
Open source as the basis for data sovereignty
The use of open source technologies means more than just ‘free software’: it's about transparency, independence and control – key prerequisites for true data sovereignty.
- Open source software enables companies to trace every data path and check security mechanisms.
- Self-operation or hosting within Europe ensures sovereignty over physical storage locations – a crucial point when it comes to GDPR-compliant storage of sensitive data.
- No hidden dependencies (e.g. through proprietary APIs or licence models) means that you decide how your storage is operated, who has access to it and when it is expanded.
Combined, these features ensure that companies can manage their data with complete sovereignty – technically, legally and strategically.
Scalable – from gigabytes to exabytes
Another key argument in favour of open source storage is its scalability. Traditional storage solutions often reach their technical or economic limits at just a few hundred terabytes. Storage technologies such as Ceph, which are based on a distributed architecture, show a different reality here:
- Scaling from a few terabytes to the exabyte range without changing the architecture
- Support for block, file and object storage in a single, consistent platform
- High reliability and performance, even with growing loads and complex access patterns
An impressive example: In a real-world setup, the CLYSO team has implemented a cluster with over 1 TiB/s throughput – a scale that was previously only common in hyperscale environments.
This technical scalability is a prerequisite for ensuring that data-sovereign systems can be operated not only securely but also in a future-proof manner.
GDPR and data sovereignty – two sides of the same coin
While the GDPR focuses on specific legal frameworks, data sovereignty describes the ability to implement these requirements technically and organisationally in a self-determined manner. This includes:
- Data localisation – storage within the EU, under your own control
- Transparent data flows – no black box services, no hidden transfers
- Technical measures – such as encryption, deletion concepts, access control
- Logging & auditing to enable accountability
Open source storage solutions enable all of this – and can be tailored precisely to individual compliance requirements. Unlike proprietary solutions, there are no functional limitations due to licensing models or restricted APIs.
No vendor lock-in – really
A key aspect of data-sovereign IT is technological independence. Only those who can freely operate, maintain and further develop their systems will remain capable of acting in the long term.
That is why it is important that open source is not just used as a label, but is also fully implemented in practice. CLYSO Enterprise Storage (CES) is a good example of this:
- It is based 100% on Ceph Upstream, is fully open source and contains no proprietary dependencies. Or as the development team puts it:
‘No vendor lock-in --yes-i-really-mean-it.’
This means that companies can use CES productively – and switch back to pure open source distribution at any time without losing functionality. That is data sovereignty in action.
Conclusion: Storage solutions for the next generation
When planning storage infrastructure today, it is not only capacity and performance that are important, but also:
- Legal security through GDPR compliance
- Long-term flexibility through open standards
- Scalability right from the start
- Data sovereignty as a strategic advantage
Open source storage provides the foundation for this – technically robust, economically predictable and politically independent. And those who also rely on partners who not only use open source but also help develop it secure a piece of digital self-determination for the future.