Commvault launches Clumio for Iceberg on AWS to boost AI data security

Commvault has launched Clumio for Apache Iceberg on AWS, a solution designed to enhance cyber resilience of AI and analytics data lakehouses by delivering Iceberg-aware, air-gapped backup capabilities.

The adoption of Apache Iceberg as the foundation for modern data lakehouses continues to increase, with organisations such as Netflix, Apple, and Airbnb among those utilising the table format for their data infrastructure. Industry research indicates that over 70% of IT and data professionals expect data lakehouses to become the primary architecture for analytics within the next three years.

Despite their central role in AI and analytics initiatives, data lakehouses built on Apache Iceberg have often lacked robust, native data resilience features. These limitations expose businesses to risks such as data loss, ransomware threats, and compliance issues. Native snapshot capabilities provide a partial solution, but as they are linked to the source account and lack air-gapped isolation, they remain susceptible to the same risks as the live data. Additionally, restoring data from non-Iceberg-aware backups frequently involves labour-intensive and complex processes to restore tables, raising the likelihood of extended downtime and risk of data inconsistency.

Clumio for Apache Iceberg on AWS aims to address these gaps by offering backup and recovery mechanisms that are natively aware of the structure and transactions of Iceberg tables. The tool supports point-in-time, snapshot-level, cross-region, cross-account, and in-place restore capabilities, thus enabling flexible restoration options for enterprises.

Features and benefits

The solution delivers immutable, air-gapped backups, safeguarding data in an isolated environment that is designed to remain protected against threats such as ransomware, account compromise, and both accidental or intentional deletions. Organisations are also able to automate compliance and governance with long-term retention of snapshots, without adversely affecting live data performance. Storage costs and backup times are reduced by capturing only changes made after an initial backup.

This release forms part of Commvault's wider strategy to provide resilience across the entire AWS data pipeline, complementing its existing coverage for Amazon S3 and DynamoDB. Clumio for Apache Iceberg on AWS now extends deep protection specifically to data lakehouse environments.

Industry perspectives

"The data that powers AI and analytics is one of the most valuable assets for an organization, yet it's often the most exposed," said Woon Jung, Chief Technology Officer, Cloud Native, Commvault. "With Clumio for Apache Iceberg, we are providing the industry's first true safety net for the data lakehouse. For the first time, organizations can protect their AI and analytics data with an air-gapped, automated solution, allowing them to accelerate innovation with confidence."

Archana Venkatraman, Senior Research Director at IDC, also noted the growing need for specialised protection solutions for data lakehouses. She said, "The explosion of data lakehouse environments for AI has created a blind spot in many enterprises' data protection strategies. Apache-aware data protection such as Commvault's Clumio for Apache Iceberg directly addresses emerging governance risks with air-gapped, transactionally aware recovery that is becoming an imperative now. It's a timely solution for a fast-rising market vulnerability."

Availability details

Clumio for Apache Iceberg on AWS is available in the AWS Marketplace and supports protection for both self-managed tables using AWS Glue Data Catalog and fully managed tables via Amazon S3 Tables.