Magazine
Cost Optimization
Wasabi Alternative

A Sovereign Backblaze B2 UK Alternative for Enterprise Storage

07.09.2025

9

Minutes
Christian Kaul
CEO Impossible Cloud
Achieve GDPR compliance, predictable costs, and ransomware resilience with a European cloud storage platform designed for UK businesses.

For UK IT leaders, selecting a cloud storage partner involves navigating complex compliance landscapes and unpredictable costs. Storing data with providers subject to non-EU laws like the US CLOUD Act creates significant risk, even when data centers are located in Europe. Furthermore, hidden egress and API fees disrupt budgets for 95% of organizations. This article outlines a practical, enterprise-ready Backblaze B2 UK alternative that delivers digital sovereignty, cost predictability, and robust ransomware protection through a sovereign-by-design architecture. We explore how UK businesses can secure their data under EU rules, simplify compliance, and eliminate surprise costs for good.

Key Takeaways

  • A true Backblaze B2 UK alternative must be based in the EU to ensure data sovereignty and avoid US CLOUD Act exposure.
  • Eliminate budget uncertainty by choosing a provider with a transparent pricing model that has zero egress fees or API call costs.
  • Enterprise-grade features like full S3-compatibility, an 'Always-Hot' architecture, and immutable Object Lock are critical for performance and ransomware protection.

Prioritise UK Data Sovereignty and GDPR Compliance

For UK businesses, data sovereignty is not just a technical detail; it is a strategic requirement for compliance and trust. The US CLOUD Act allows US authorities to access data held by American companies, regardless of where it is stored physically. This means data in an UK data centre owned by a US firm is still exposed, creating a direct conflict with GDPR principles. A European-owned and operated cloud ensures your data remains exclusively under EU and UK jurisdiction, providing the legal certainty needed for regulated industries. This approach offers a clear path to demonstrating UK data residency and mitigating risks associated with foreign government access requests. True sovereignty is achieved when your cloud provider is governed by the same legal framework you are. This alignment is the foundation of a secure data strategy.

Eliminate Hidden Costs with a Predictable Pricing Model

Unpredictable cloud spending is a major challenge, with a recent study showing 95% of IT leaders encounter unexpected storage fees. The primary culprits are often egress fees, which 55% of respondents cited as the biggest barrier to switching providers. A transparent pricing model with zero egress fees, no API call costs, and no minimum storage durations provides the financial predictability businesses need. This structure ensures the total cost of ownership is clear from day one, allowing for accurate budgeting for backup, disaster recovery, and archiving workloads. By choosing a UK cloud storage price model based on predictability, you can focus on innovation instead of auditing invoices for hidden charges. This economic clarity is a key differentiator when seeking a viable Backblaze B2 UK alternative.

Leverage an Enterprise-Ready, S3-Compatible Architecture

Full S3 API compatibility is essential for a seamless transition and operational continuity. It allows you to use your existing tools, scripts, and applications without any code rewrites, protecting past investments and minimizing migration risk. An 'Always-Hot' storage model ensures all data is immediately accessible, eliminating the delays and complex lifecycle policies associated with tiered storage. This architectural choice simplifies operations, as 100% of your data is ready for restore or analysis without surprise retrieval fees. An enterprise-ready platform provides the following benefits:

  • Advanced S3 Compatibility: Support for versioning, lifecycle management, and event notifications keeps your existing workflows intact.
  • Consistent Performance: Strong read/write consistency and predictable latencies support mixed workloads, from millions of small files to large archives.
  • No Restore Delays: The 'Always-Hot' model means no waiting for data to be moved from a cold tier, which is critical for disaster recovery scenarios.
  • Simplified Operations: Avoid fragile tiering policies that can lead to API timeouts and hidden operational costs.

This robust foundation ensures your S3-compatible storage is both powerful and easy to manage.

Strengthen Ransomware Protection with Immutable Storage

In the face of rising cyber threats, immutable storage with Object Lock is a non-negotiable feature for ransomware protection. This capability allows you to make data unchangeable and undeletable for a specified period, creating a tamper-proof copy of your critical backups. It provides a reliable recovery point, ensuring that even if your primary systems are compromised, your backups remain secure and intact. Multi-layer encryption, both in transit and at rest, further secures your data within certified European data centers. Identity and Access Management (IAM) with multi-factor authentication and role-based access control (RBAC) gives you granular control over who can access your data. This security-first approach helps you protect UK business data and build a resilient defense against attacks.

Prepare for the Future of EU Data Regulation

The regulatory landscape is constantly evolving, and your storage provider must be prepared for what comes next. Two key regulations will shape the future of data management in Europe. The EU Data Act, with provisions taking effect from September 2025, mandates data portability and interoperability to prevent vendor lock-in. The UK NIS Regulations enhances cybersecurity requirements for critical sectors, demanding continuous security processes and supply-chain assurance. A provider that is sovereign by design aligns with these principles, offering a clear exit strategy and robust security posture. Choosing a European platform ensures you are aligned with these future compliance demands, turning regulatory readiness into a competitive advantage for your sovereign cloud strategy.

Empower UK MSPs with a Partner-Centric Platform

For UK Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and resellers, a successful partnership hinges on predictable margins and operational efficiency. A storage platform with zero egress or API fees is predictable by design, allowing MSPs to build profitable Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) and archiving solutions with defensible margins. The availability of a UK distributor, Northamber plc, ensures local access and support for the channel. A partner-ready platform should deliver key features for MSPs:

  1. Multi-Tenant Management: A dedicated partner console with robust RBAC and MFA for securely managing multiple clients.
  2. Automation via API/CLI: Full automation capabilities to streamline onboarding, management, and reporting tasks.
  3. Predictable Margins: A pricing model free of hidden fees, ensuring the price you quote is the price you pay.
  4. Fast Onboarding: Simplified processes to get new clients up and running quickly.

This focus on the channel makes it a superior object storage UK solution for partners.

FAQ

Is your object storage fully S3 compatible?

Yes, our platform offers full S3 API compatibility. This allows you to use your existing applications, scripts, and tools without modification, ensuring a seamless migration and protecting your prior investments in S3-based workflows.

How does your pricing model work?

We offer a transparent and predictable pricing model. You pay only for the storage you use, with no egress fees, no API call costs, and no minimum storage duration. This eliminates surprise charges and makes budgeting simple and accurate.

Where is my data stored?

All data is stored exclusively in certified data centers within the European Union. We provide country-level geofencing to ensure your data remains in your chosen region, under UK law, guaranteeing digital sovereignty and GDPR compliance.

How do you protect my data against ransomware?

We provide multi-layer security, including encryption in transit and at rest. Our key feature for ransomware defense is Immutable Storage with Object Lock, which allows you to make your backups unchangeable, ensuring you always have a clean copy for recovery.

Is this solution suitable for MSPs?

Absolutely. Our platform is partner-ready, featuring a multi-tenant management console, automation via API/CLI, and predictable pricing with no hidden fees to ensure stable margins. We also have UK distribution through Northamber plc to support our channel partners.

What do you mean by an 'Always-Hot' storage model?

An 'Always-Hot' model means all of your data is immediately accessible at all times. Unlike tiered storage that moves infrequently accessed data to slower, cheaper tiers, our model eliminates restore delays and retrieval fees, simplifying operations and ensuring your data is always ready when you need it.

Would you like more information?

Send us a message and our experts will get back to you shortly.