Can we start on one model and move to another?

The platform is the same across all four, and block-level incremental replication moves data between AiRE instances. The commercial mechanics of a change mid-term depend on your agreement, so raise it during the quote conversation rather than assuming it is free.

FlexiPay is STORViX's pay-as-you-grow pricing model for physical and virtual AiRE instances. It is supported by CloudSight's predictive capacity forecasting, which projects future usage so consumption can be planned rather than guessed.

Which model gives the lowest total cost?

It depends on how stable your capacity is and how you fund infrastructure. Ownership tends to win over a long horizon with predictable capacity, given the seven-to-ten-year lifecycle. Storage as a Service tends to win where capacity is uncertain or capital is constrained. We would rather model this against your figures than assert a general answer.

Support is a SmartCARE subscription in three tiers. Standard is 8×5 with CloudSight, remote access, software updates and portal access. Advanced adds 24×7, hardware replacement and quarterly health checks. Premium adds a dedicated account manager and remote administration.

Deployment models

Four storage deployment models. One operational model.

The commercial arrangement changes what you own and who operates it. It does not change the platform, the data set policies, or how the fleet is managed.

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Choose by constraint

Which model fits, at a glance.

The right answer usually falls out of two questions: where must the data physically sit, and who has capacity to operate the infrastructure.

Swipe sideways to see every column.

Comparison of the four AiRE deployment models by data location, cost model and operational responsibility.
Model	Where the data sits	Cost shape	Who operates it	Best when
Own your AiRE unit	Your premises	Capital, or FlexiPay	You	Control and residency are non-negotiable
Storage as a Service	European partner data centre	Operational subscription	STORViX and partners	You want the capability, not the hardware
Cloud	Your chosen cloud region	Operational subscription	You, in your cloud	Workloads already move between environments
Edge	Each remote site	Per-site purchase or subscription	Centrally managed, no local staff	The estate is distributed

Model 1 of 4

Own your AiRE unit

Purchase the AiRE Unified Data Platform outright, with AiRE pre-installed. STORViX consults on the hardware configuration for your use case before you buy.

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Ideal customer profile: Organisations that need the data to sit on premises they control, and that can fund capital expenditure. Common in government, healthcare and regulated financial environments.
Commercial model: Capital purchase of hardware and software, with an annual SmartCARE support subscription. FlexiPay is available where a pay-as-you-grow consumption profile suits better than a single outlay.
Operational model: You operate the system. CloudSight telemetry, CoPILOT Connect remote assistance and centralised fleet management come as part of support, so day-to-day administration is substantially automated.

Key benefits

Full control over data location and security posture
Seven-to-ten-year hardware lifecycle, not a three-year refresh
Capacity expansion in 4U disk expansion units on a live system
Hardware configuration chosen against your actual workload

Constraints and best-fit guidance

Requires capital budget and rack, power and cooling capacity
You carry responsibility for physical security and facilities
Best suited where capacity requirements are reasonably predictable

Model 2 of 4

Storage as a Service

Full AiRE capability delivered as a service — both hardware and software — hosted at European data centre partners, without you managing or maintaining the infrastructure.

Discuss Storage as a Service

Ideal customer profile: Teams that want AiRE's capabilities and European data residency without operating hardware, and organisations that prefer operational to capital expenditure.
Commercial model: Subscription based on capacity and term. Hardware and software are both provided as part of the service.
Operational model: STORViX and its data centre partners run the infrastructure. You consume capacity and set data set policies.

Key benefits

No hardware to buy, rack or refresh
Hosted at European data centre partners
Operational rather than capital expenditure
Capacity adjusts without a procurement cycle

Constraints and best-fit guidance

Data sits in a partner facility rather than your own — verify this against your sovereignty and audit requirements
Latency depends on your connectivity to the hosting facility
Longer-run total cost may exceed ownership for stable, long-lived capacity

Model 3 of 4

Cloud

Access and move data between public and private clouds while keeping one operational model, one policy set and one view of the estate.

Discuss a cloud deployment

Ideal customer profile: Hybrid estates mid-modernisation, and teams that need workloads to move between on-premises and cloud without rewriting their data management.
Commercial model: Subscription for virtual AiRE instances, sized by capacity. FlexiPay uses CloudSight's capacity forecasting to support a consumption-based profile.
Operational model: You run virtual AiRE instances in your chosen cloud, managed centrally alongside physical instances through the same fleet management.

Key benefits

Consistent data services across on-premises and cloud
Block-level incremental replication keeps transfer costs down
Same profiles and policies wherever the instance runs
STORViX works with Oracle and AWS

Constraints and best-fit guidance

Cloud infrastructure and egress costs are the provider's, not STORViX's
Performance is bounded by the underlying cloud instance and storage
Sovereignty depends on the region you select with your cloud provider

Model 4 of 4

Edge

Enterprise-grade storage in constrained or remote locations, managed centrally as part of the same fleet.

Discuss an edge rollout

Ideal customer profile: Distributed estates — clinics, branches, sites, production facilities — that need local data services and central control.
Commercial model: Purchase or subscription per site, typically standardised on a common configuration to keep the estate manageable.
Operational model: Instances run locally; updates, configuration and commands are distributed fleet-wide from one console. AutoPILOT handles routine optimisation without local staff.

Key benefits

Local performance where connectivity is limited
Fleet-wide updates rather than per-site visits
Autonomous optimisation with no local administrator
Replication back to a central site or into Vault

Constraints and best-fit guidance

Physical security at each site is your responsibility
Smaller configurations trade capacity headroom for footprint
Site-to-site bandwidth shapes what replication schedule is realistic

Data services

Off-site protection, whichever model you choose.

Vault and DRaaS sit alongside all four deployment models rather than belonging to one.

Vault

One-way replication to geographically separated STORViX data centres, protecting against site-specific disasters with cloud-like scalability.

Facilities in Sweden, Italy and other EU countries
SHA AES 256 encryption at rest
FIDO2 multi-factor authentication on physical drives
Zero-knowledge privacy policy and data processing agreement
Recovery over the network, or by shipped physical drives
Up to 50% lower cost than comparable cloud archive

Disaster Recovery as a Service

Backup and recovery orchestration running on Vault infrastructure, to restore IT function after a disaster.

Runs on the Vault estate
Orchestrated recovery rather than raw restore
Recovery objectives and runbooks agreed per engagement
Always quote-led — scope depends on the estate

Support

SmartCARE, in three tiers.

Every tier includes CloudSight, remote access, software updates and portal access.

Standard

8×5

Phone, web and email assistance
CloudSight access
Remote access
Software updates
STORViX portal

Advanced

24×7

Everything in Standard
Hardware replacement
Quarterly health checks

Premium

24×7

Everything in Advanced
Dedicated account manager
Remote administration

Support tiers can be purchased with a licence in the licence catalogue.

Questions

Frequently asked

Can we start on one model and move to another?: The platform is the same across all four, and block-level incremental replication moves data between AiRE instances. The commercial mechanics of a change mid-term depend on your agreement, so raise it during the quote conversation rather than assuming it is free.
What is FlexiPay?: FlexiPay is STORViX's pay-as-you-grow pricing model for physical and virtual AiRE instances. It is supported by CloudSight's predictive capacity forecasting, which projects future usage so consumption can be planned rather than guessed.
Which model gives the lowest total cost?: It depends on how stable your capacity is and how you fund infrastructure. Ownership tends to win over a long horizon with predictable capacity, given the seven-to-ten-year lifecycle. Storage as a Service tends to win where capacity is uncertain or capital is constrained. We would rather model this against your figures than assert a general answer.
Is support included?: Support is a SmartCARE subscription in three tiers. Standard is 8×5 with CloudSight, remote access, software updates and portal access. Advanced adds 24×7, hardware replacement and quarterly health checks. Premium adds a dedicated account manager and remote administration.

Model it against your own numbers.

Bring your capacity plan, your funding constraints and your residency requirements. We would rather build the comparison with you than assert which model wins.

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