blog.simplstor.com

Data Impounded–Can Our Business Recover?

In 2012, Megaupload was hit with a government lawfare outage that killed Kyle Goodwin’s business, among others. On January 19, the U.S. government flipped the off switch. Domains seized. Money frozen. Executives arrested in New Zealand.

People retell this as the feds raiding a shared cage and inadvertently deleting the neighbor’s payroll. Not exactly. Megaupload owned the equipment: about 1,100 servers and 25 petabytes at Carpathia in Virginia, plus datacenters in Europe. Federal agents copied what they wanted and left. Then the government froze Mega’s bank accounts. Servers holding critical data for many small businesses might as well have been struck by lightning. Vendors stopped getting paid. No one could access the servers, including innocent clients.

Kyle Goodwin filmed high-school sports in Ohio and used Megaupload to store, move, and back up giant video files. His local disk had died days before the raid, so his backup was now the original. The Department of Justice did not pause to ask whether a file was the Ashtabula girls’ soccer video or a studio movie. They didn’t care. After they took what they wanted, the message was: we’re done; data owners can delete—and, by the way, you clicked terms saying you own nothing.

In the cloud, you can lose everything without a goodbye letter. The datacenter couldn’t open Kyle’s account. His lawyers spent years asking a judge for retrieval. There was none. Court is not a restore tool. Court is a calendar.

Shared cloud means your uptime is married to the platform operator—their indictment, their frozen wire, their invoice, their country. Dedicated servers did not save Mega’s users. Mega owned the metal and the namespace. When it got stormy, end users had no storm shelter.

If you host proprietary information in the cloud, design as if the other tenants are fugitives. Don’t keep proprietary data in one vendor’s control. Keep local backups you can restore under your control. Sequester contracts and billing so one seizure doesn’t take your A/R and A/P. Know which country the disks live in and who owns them.

If your plan is “I’ll get a lawyer and file a motion,” you have a hobby, not a recovery plan.

Your CFO should ask your CIO: If our hosted platform vanished tomorrow because someone else got raided, could you rebuild it in 24 to 72 hours on gear we control? If the answer is not “yes”, you need on-premises infrastructure.

Don’t procrastinate. Call Zerowait.

By the time we were at coffee and dessert, it was clear his answer was “Yes”. Every day, unexpected problems were diverting resources from his important project.

We see this everywhere: Engineering teams are busy with necessary work, but it’s work that doesn’t move the business needle. Does this sound familiar?

That’s where we come in. Our engineers excel at eliminating the annoying little network and storage problems that drain your team’s time. Legacy SANs throwing errors? Obsolete firmware? We have a deep catalog of solutions and battle-tested fixes. While we quietly keep the bits flowing and the data safe, your people finally get the bandwidth to focus on the big stuff that matters to your business.

Most organizations default by reflex to “We’ll handle it internally”. In the short term, it feels cheaper. Over years, it’s brutally expensive in missed opportunities and burned-out talent.

This week, take a few minutes and ask yourself, “What are our biggest IT problems, and why aren’t we solving them?” If the honest answer relates to the above constant firefighting scenario, we may be able to help.

Complimentary Engineering Assessment

Schedule a no-cost, 30-minute call with our engineering team and we’ll review your current network/storage pain points and follow up with a shortlist of quick-win solutions tailored to your environment.

Let us help you make the small problems disappear so your team can focus on what moves the needle. Contact Zerowait today! Email us or call 302.996.9408!

Good morning, friends. Pour yourself some coffee. We need to talk about the VMware situation. Broadcom’s acquisition flipped the script: subscription mandates, steep core minimums, surprise audits, and price hikes that can hit 3x to 10x.

NetApp customers know this pain especially well. Your reliable filers are still performing strong, but the virtualization layer is squeezing budgets and options. Migrate everything to the cloud? Say hello to new lock-in and unpredictable bills. Stay put and pay up? Not exactly inspiring.

Here’s the practical escape route: Zerowait’s SimplConverged solutions. For over 25 years, we’ve specialized in extending NetApp hardware life with expert 24/7 U.S.-based support, quality parts, and major cost savings. SimplConverged disaggregates compute, storage, and networking for real resilience — components work together efficiently but can be isolated instantly if needed. No fragile single-stack failure points. At the heart: SimplStor Performance-Energized servers — custom-built, NVMe-optimized platforms engineered for long-term reliability. Paired with open-source Proxmox VE and ZFS, you get HA clustering, live migration, snapshots, replication, deduplication, and encryption — all without VMware’s licensing drama.

The results speak volumes: 70-90% lower TCO, predictable costs, full data sovereignty on-prem, and smoother performance for today’s workloads. Your existing NetApp investment keeps delivering while you migrate VMware workloads with minimal disruption.

Disaggregate. Simplify. Outlast. That’s the winning formula and Zerowait makes the smart switch practical and low-risk.
Ready to reclaim control? Contact Zerowait today for a complimentary VMware-to-Proxmox Strategic Assessment. Email us or call 302.996.9408 now!

Over 25 Years of NetApp Service and Support

At Zerowait, we advocate a more intelligent path: Disaggregate. Simplify. Outlast. Our SimplConverged architecture strategically separates critical layers while intelligently grouping related components. This approach minimizes the blast radius of any failure, eliminates vendor lock-in, and provides genuine resilience—without reverting to inefficient legacy silos. Think of it as a modular system where compute, storage, network, and security snap together for operational efficiency but can be isolated instantly when needed. The result is infrastructure that remains strong precisely because it isn’t locked into a single fragile stack.

We deliver this through purpose-built SimplStor servers, engineered for a decade or more of reliable service with open, non-proprietary components, paired with the Proxmox VE virtualization platform. This combination reduces long-term total cost of ownership, restores full control, and allows teams to contain issues rather than letting them amplify across the environment.

Organizations that adopt SimplConverged solutions don’t just migrate—they transform their infrastructure. Are you looking for an engineered turnkey solution that will reduce costs and ensure network reliability?

Zerowait’s SimplConverged solutions are the answer you are looking for.

Contact Zerowait today for a free migration evaluation by email or call 302.996.9408.

Zerowait Corporation
707 Kirkwood Hwy, Elsmere DE 19805
Phone: 302-996-9408
Manchester, UK: +44 161-513-7429
www.zerowait.com

Enter Zerowait’s SimplConverged approach with SimplStor-PE at the core. Backed by Zerowait’s expert engineering—over 25 years integrating and supporting enterprise storage and extending system life far beyond OEM limits—this isn’t single-purpose hardware. It’s a low-risk, high-reward path: affordable, Performance-Energized, custom-built servers by storage specialists for today’s AI realities.

• With ZFS tools—native to Proxmox VE—snapshots, clustering, replication, compression, deduplication, and encryption give you full control over your data and its protection.
• SimplConverged disaggregation—compute, storage, and networking smartly siloed yet still unified—means no vendor lock-in, no cloud surprises.

The risk? Minimal. Zerowait’s decades of expertise prove it: 24/7 U.S. based engineering, parts assurance, and seamless support keep systems running indefinitely. No forced upgrades. No ballooning cloud bills. Scale capacity or performance on the fly with confidence.

The reward? Data sovereignty secured on-prem. Predictable costs. Faster AI pipelines. Full control over your most valuable asset—your data—while everyone else chases proprietary fixes. Zerowait’s expert engineering makes the smart choice impossible to overlook.

Store More. Worry Less. Contact Zerowait today to discover more about SimplConverged architecture. Your AI future starts here—secure, sovereign, and surprisingly affordable.

Since 1989, Zerowait Corporation has championed reliable, high availability, on-premise solutions. We mastered load-balancing, caching, and storage, and after 2002 we specialized in third-party NetApp support. For over 25 years, we’ve extended enterprise storage life well beyond OEM end-of-life with 24/7 U.S.-based engineering, parts assurance, and major cost savings—avoiding forced upgrades and proving durable on-prem endures economic shifts and AI demands.

Building on this, we’re also recommending hyper-converged disaggregation. We call it SimplConverged: a resilient evolution beyond costly traditional HCI. Separating compute, storage, and networking while integrating via open-source Proxmox VE delivers scalable, sovereign setups with strong security, performance, and no lock-in—perfect for AI’s data gravity and low-latency needs.

Central to this is SimplStor PE, our custom, affordable performance-energized, ZFS-powered platform offering snapshots, clustering, replication, compression, deduplication, and encryption. It keeps sensitive AI models, training data, and inference workloads safe, secure, and fully local—no egress fees, no shared tenancy risks, no token surprises—ensuring privacy and sovereignty in tomorrow’s AI landscape.

Chamath is spot on: On-premise is the pragmatic new cloud—predictable, performant, private. Zerowait’s SimplStor with Proxmox VE positions you to thrive.

Ready to future-proof your AI infrastructure without cloud headaches? Contact Zerowait today by email or phone at +1 302.996.9408 for a free migration assessment. Reclaim control and save costs—don’t wait.

Zerowait Corporation
707 Kirkwood Hwy, Elsmere DE 19805
Phone: 302-996-9408
Manchester, UK: +44 161-513-7429
www.zerowait.com

Does anyone believe Broadcom’s new pricing model enhances long-term infrastructure stability? No! That’s why we’ve taken decisive action: We’ve become authorized Proxmox resellers to empower our trusted clients like you to make a seamless switch right now in 2026. Proxmox, an open-source powerhouse for virtualization and container management, offers robust features without the licensing headaches—think lower costs, greater scalability, and community-driven innovation that VMware once promised but can no longer deliver.

Whether you’re just exploring options or ready to dive in, we’d love to discuss your migration plans and see how we can assist with implementation. Our team has hands-on experience in assessing environments, planning transitions, and ensuring minimal downtime.

If you’re considering a change, schedule that initial call today to lock in priority support and avoid further price surges. Email us at sales@zerowait.com or call us to book before the end of January and receive a coupon for $500 towards a migration assessment. Don’t let rising costs derail your year—Zerowait can help! Contact us at +1 302.996.9408 to learn more.

Zerowait Corporation
707 Kirkwood Hwy, Elsmere DE 19805
Phone: 302-996-9408
Manchester, UK: +44 161-513-7429
www.zerowait.com

Since 1998, we’ve focused on hardware and support for NetApp systems, extending the life of Filers far beyond OEM end-of-life dates. Our team, often likened to skilled mechanics restoring a classic Italian sports car to show-winning form, delivers 24/7 monitoring, next-day parts replacement, and reliable uptime that keeps operations running smoothly and affordably.

As 2026 nears, we’re tackling new challenges with customized, battle-tested solutions that fit your budget and timelines. Our SimplStor line empowers enterprises of all sizes to sidestep OEM pitfalls, streamline infrastructure, eliminate bottlenecks, and unlock AI capabilities. The latest innovation, the SimplStor X14-NVMe, provides secure on-premises processing and storage, shielding you from cloud volatility and hidden fees. It supports Windows, Linux, BSD, Ubuntu and ZFS with immutable data protection, virtualization through Proxmox or VMware, and robust replication

Tailored for FileMaker enterprise users, this appliance is a game-changer: our internal tests showed task processing times improving by 300%! Full details are on our FileMaker performance page.

Join us virtually for “FileMaker Performance Energized” at Harmonic-Data’s Studio during the Dallas FMPug meeting on December 5 at 11 AM Central. Drawing on over 21 years of FileMaker expertise, we’ll dive into virtualization, replication, ZFS strategies, and more.

Our longevity stems from consistent innovation that solves real customer problems. For dependable data storage, NetApp support, or FileMaker optimization, contact us at +1 302.996.9408. We’re here for results, not fanfare.

Zerowait Corporation
707 Kirkwood Hwy, Elsmere DE 19805
Phone: 302-996-9408
Manchester, UK: +44 161-513-7429
www.zerowait.com

With more than 25 years of providing third-party support for NetApp filers, we’ve learned the right and wrong ways to navigate obstacles like end-of-support announcements from Silicon Valley hardware giants. Our focus is on delivering auditable, well-documented support solutions for customers who choose to extend the life of their EOS NetApp systems long after the OEM has moved on.

As many of our clients know, high-availability gear doesn’t suddenly become unreliable just because a newer model hits the market. We often hear from customers about their experiences with OEM-covered equipment. Lately, they’ve shared frustrations with the performance, service, and support of newer C-Series models, expressing a strong preference for our engineers and team over large corporations that prioritize revenue targets over engineering excellence and customer support. In informal chats, some storage industry colleagues have noted that current NetApp C-Models seem “throttled”, delivering lower performance than earlier versions. As a third-party provider, we can’t pinpoint the cause—whether it’s in the OS or the component supply chain—but we hope the OEM is investigating these bottlenecks.

If you’re seeking high-performance storage solutions designed for longevity and reliability, consider Zerowait’s SimplStor X14 products. At Zerowait, we put engineering and support first, ensuring we never resort to shortcuts like baling wire and duct tape—or artificially limiting performance—to chase revenue goals. We’re here for the long haul!

Ready to upgrade your storage without the hassle? Contact Zerowait today by email or call 1.302.996.9408.

Zerowait Corporation
707 Kirkwood Hwy, Elsmere DE 19805
Phone: 302-996-9408
Manchester, UK: +44 161-513-7429
www.zerowait.com