When it comes to Storage we are the Solution
What is Backup?
A backup is the deliberate act of making a copy of the information saved on computers or external hard drives, such as a RAID box or NAS server, and removing it to another location where it is both safe and easily retrievable.
Backup systems consist of six essential ingredients:
1. Data – Digital information, especially information organised and stored for analysis, or used to reason, or make decisions 2. Hardware Device to Backup Data – A device that data is copied to from another device, with the intention of protecting it
against loss or damage, such as additional hard drives, CDs, DVDs and tape devices
3. Software – Applications that specifically aid in automating the collection, tracking and writing of data to a backup device, as well as the restoration of data from the backup device to its place of origin
4. Backup Process (Internal Business Process) – Scheduling backup operations in a way that adequately protects data while minimising the impact of backup operations on networks is critical. Properly established, the backup process can liberate a company from the task of overseeing backups, i.e. ‘Lights-out’ backups typically take place at night
5. Off-Site Location – Storing backup data in the same facility where they are created exposes them to the same risk as the original data, e.g. fire and theft. By rotating backup data to and from a separate location, lost data can easily be restored if disaster strikes
6. Media – It is important to have the correct number of media cartridges, with the required capacity, on hand to support the backup device and backup methodology selected. A solid media management plan promotes increased reliability and ensures media longevity.
What is Archiving?
Archiving is often considered simply a component of backup and recovery with the movement of storage media to an off-site facility for disaster recovery. While this definition is sufficient for backup, it doesn’t fully articulate the benefits archiving can provide.
In fact, archiving is a process that can exist independent of backup as part of a broader, business level data retention strategy. In this instance, archiving is focused on helping customers reduce storage costs by moving data off of higher cost primary disk to a lower cost storage tier.
For rich media, government, science and engineering customers archiving is especially critical. For these customers, and others like them, archiving is not an “offline” process where data is moved to a tape and stored on a shelf. Instead it is an “online/active” process where data is stored in a repository that can be accessed on demand.
Four key features of a good archiving strategy:
■ Moves files to lower cost tiers of storage – including tape for maximum cost control ■ Allows files to be accessed on-demand for revenue generating activities
■ Hides the movement of files so that users do not have to search for data ■ Protects and safeguards content as it is moved, so no data is accidentally lost.
What are the market drivers for Backup & Archiving?
■ Data is often the most important non-human asset a business owns, representing the thoughts and actions of the people who work within the organisation. Insurance can cover the cost of replacing hardware and software, but if data is lost or becomes unavailable it can affect a company’s ability to stay in business
■ The amount of data organisations need to collect and store on a daily basis is increasing exponentially, making the task of managing and protecting it harder
■ Specific legal or regulatory requirements make it necessary for organisations such as public sector bodies to archive important files over a period of time
■ Development of demanding service level agreements (SLA’s) to provide provision for the restoration of systems in the event of an unexpected hardware or software failure
■ Manually copying files to external hard drives, CDs or DVDs is time consuming, disruptive to day-to-day operations and error-prone.
What is the growing market opportunity for Backup & Archiving?
■ The capacity of storage media, both tapes and disks has significantly increased during the last decade whilst the cost has significantly decreased
■ Magnetic digital tape is a mature, field-proven medium for data storage, and tape drives can generally read and/or write to tapes from previous generations
■ Developments in data deduplication have enabled businesses to expand their use of disk for backup and introduced the idea of replicating backup sets over a conventional WAN as a practical part of a disaster recovery program
■ Recent advancements in networking technologies. The adoption of 10Gb Ethernet in mainstream data centres now makes it possible for Ethernet to match the raw performance required for today’s storage technologies, Fibre Channel (FC) and iSCSI This has lead to the development of Fibre Channel over 10Gb Ethernet (FCoE) to provide the reliable lossless environment required for storage traffic.
Backup & Archiving Solution
Components of a Backup & Archiving Solution
Tape
Magnetic tape is the least expensive and one of the most portable media for high capacity needs. It is immune to computer viruses, although you can record/backup a virus to tape, and data is typically stored in a compressed format, effectively doubling the capacity of each tape over its native format. Tape cartridges easily fit in the palm of your hand and the data transfer rate is so fast on some tape drives that they can back up multiple servers at once. In addition, tape is uniquely “green” since the drive motor only runs when a backup or restore operation is in progress. Archived tapes have a very long shelf life (20 years or more).
The best way to protect valuable business data is to perform a backup of new data every night, dedicating a separate tape to each week or day of the week. The tapes are “rotated” in sequence, one after another, so that new data doesn’t overwrite older data. Eventually, tapes are removed from the rotation system and stored off-site and a new set of tapes is loaded into the system.
Tape drive technologies commonly used today:
DLT™ (Digital Linear Tape) is a robust technology that offers reliability, capacity and performance at an exceptional value. Over 100 million DLT cartridges and two million tape drives have been sold.
DAT™ (Digital Audio Tape) also known as DDS technology is based on a cartridge smaller than an audio cassette that provides a low-cost alternative to other formats for lower capacity needs with longer backup windows.
Despite the move to using disk as a backup media enterprise organisations are likely to continue to use tape for the foreseeable future for several reasons:
■ Power costs for disk can be as much as 290 times more than tape
■ For the long-term archival of data that is infrequently or rarely accessed tape provides the most affordable option
■ Tape protects against data corruption by isolating data on an individual cartridge. Recent enhancements to this capability have included the integration of encryption into standard tape drives and the inclusion of key management capabilities from tape library vendors, such as Quantum
■ Portability for offsite disaster recovery (DR).
Standalone tape drives, autoloaders/entry-level libraries and enterprise tape libraries
Whether a single tape drive, autoloader/entry-level library solution or enterprise tape library is the best choice depends on a number of factors, including capacity needs and resources. Small or mid-sized businesses will generally choose an autoloader/ entry level library solution or a single tape drive attached to a server. Larger organisations backing up massive amounts of data rely on tape libraries, with multiple drives and cartridges, or disk arrays, or a balanced approach utilising both technologies.
Standalone tape drives can be mounted inside a server, run on a tabletop in an external configuration, or purchased in a standard rackmount configuration containing one or two tape drives. A single tape drive attached to or integrated into a server is a simple, cost-effective solution for less data intensive environments. Tape cartridges are inserted and removed by hand.
Autoloaders/entry-level libraries are usually mounted in a standard equipment rack, although they are sometimes placed on a tabletop. Available interfaces are SCSI, USB, SATA or SAS. They automate much of the backup process across multiple tape cartridges. An autoloader contains a single tape drive, while a library typically has more than one tape drive and has slots for a larger number of cartridges. A robotic mechanism moves tapes between the slots and the tape drive/s. Human intervention is only necessary when inserting and removing tapes from the unit, such as for offsite storage purposes. Quantum autoloaders provide affordable and reliable entry-level tape backup systems for small to medium business.
Virtually all autoloaders and libraries include barcode readers, allowing them to automatically read the barcode labels on individual tapes. Backup software catalogues the barcodes, so if a required tape is already in the autoloader or library, tape selection happens automatically.
Enterprise tape libraries such as Quantum’s Scalar Series are sophisticated tape–based solutions that meet data centre demands for high performance, high capacity, support for multiple protocols, redundancy and advanced management functions. They can provide high capacity from hundreds to thousands of tape cartridges, allowing the consolidation of storage into a single, scalable, easily managed resource and at the same time maximising floor space usage.
Disk-based backup
In the desktop and mid range server markets, disc-based backup solutions are replacing tape technologies, with internal solutions available such as Quantum’s GoVault range which provides entry level deduplication technology. For external solutions in the home user, SOHO and SMB segments, USB and NAS devices from manufacturers such as Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi, Data Robotics and Iomega have become the dominant solution. These are usually provided as bundled solutions, including hardware and software, which allow anyone to install the devices, saving costs on specialised IT resources.
Multi-Tiered Backup
To ease the pain of daily backups enterprise organisations are adding disk-based backup systems of different capacities and interfaces to their existing tape infrastructure, resulting in the creation of a multi-tiered backup infrastructure. However, using disk and tape libraries from different Suppliers may create new issues in the longer term. Data may become siloed at certain sites; difficulties could arise with the migration from disk to tape and back again, or possibly haphazard monitoring and managing of individual disk and tape libraries.
Enterprise organisations need a holistic solution that delivers multi-tier backup within an integrated infrastructure. The approach needs to offer solutions for both remote offices and data centres, at price points that are sensitive to the needs of these respective locations, manage data throughout its entire life cycle and provide centralised management.
Quantum provides such a solution through the combination of it’s DXi™-Series disk libraries, Scalar® tape libraries and Vision™ management software. Quantum’s DXi™-Series of disk-based backup systems offer deduplication and replication that make storing data on disk longer term more practical, while Quantum’s tape libraries provide the needed technology and encryption for long-term data retention, and Quantum’s Vision Software™ streamlines the backup process.
Backup Software
Backup software collects data from various sources, such as PCs or servers and writes a copy of that data to the tape media or the backup device. The software can be simple, backing up just the files on a single server, or it can be complex, protecting multiple servers with multiple operating systems that are running email systems, databases and virtual environments.
Symantec Backup Exec protects against business downtime and disaster with rapid, reliable backup and recovery, whilst their enterprise class NetBackup product, allows businesses to unify their backup, recovery and archiving investments within a single backup platform.
Based on Acronis patented disk imaging and bare metal restore technologies, Acronis® Backup & Recovery™ 10 is the next generation disaster recovery product family, succeeding the Acronis® True Image product line. It is designed to provide centralised management of all workstation and server backup and disaster recovery activities in Windows and Linux environments to help organisations of all sizes meet challenging Recovery Time Objectives (RTO’s).
In addition, Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 delivers an affordable deduplication option that helps IT departments to make a better use of their storage and network infrastructure, saving time and expense.
Most companies employ two types of backup: full and incremental. Full backups, which copy and store all available data are usually performed at the end of the week, since much more data needs to be collected. Incremental backups are usually scheduled to take place daily with the software detecting and collecting only data that has changed since the previous incremental backup.
Backup Process
Setting up proper backup procedures is critical for maximising the value of a backup solution.
How often to backup – Most companies find that a daily incremental backup, with a full backup on the weekend, provides the
right balance between data protection and impact on network systems.
Verifying it worked – Backup software provides a “verify” function. It takes a little longer for the software to check the data on
each tape, but this confirms that the data is there when it will be needed.
Disaster recovery strategies – All companies need to store their backed up data off-site, so that if there’s a flood, fire, theft,
virus or other disaster tapes from the remote location can be returned to restore downed systems.
A backup for the backup process – Companies should make sure that more than one person is trained in the backup process
in case the primary person is unavailable. Backup procedures should be monitored periodically to make sure that proper processes are being followed.
What we offer
Avnet Technology Solutions, as industry-recognised specialists in storage products and one of the world’s largest storage-centric value-added distributors offers unrivalled experience in the Storage market. Through our Supplier portfolio we can provide high-performance, reliable, flexible and scalable Backup & Archiving solutions for your customers from market leading brands.
Quantum is a global leader in storage, delivering highly reliable backup, recovery and archive solutions that meet demanding
requirements for data integrity and availability with superior price/performance and comprehensive service and support. Quantum offers customers of all sizes an unparalleled range of solutions, from leading tape drive and media technologies, autoloaders and libraries to disk-based backup systems.
Overland Storage provides affordable end-to-end data protection solutions that are engineered to store smarter, protect faster
and extend anywhere — across networked storage, media types and multi-site environments. Overland Storage products include awardwinning NEO SERIES® and ARCvault™ tape libraries, REO SERIES® disk-based backup and recovery appliances with VTL and business continuity capabilities, Snap Server® NAS appliances, and ULTAMUS™ RAID high-performance, high-density storage.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies was founded in 2003 and was formed as a result of the strategic combination of IBM and
Hitachi’s storage technology businesses. Storage is one of Hitachi’s five core businesses; substantial technology and financial resources have been committed to ensure a successful and profitable business. The company’s vision is to enable users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing access to large amounts of storage capacity in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in the home. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is positioned to immediately advance the role of hard disk drives beyond traditional computing environments to consumer electronics and other emerging applications.
The company will extend the world-renowned R&D heritage of its founders and build on their combined 80 years of hard disk drive expertise. With substantial and dedicated research and development investments, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is positioned to inspire and lead the future of storage technologies.
Seagate are a market leader in hard disk (HDD) development and a driver of innovative solutions for the storage industry. As
digital content, such as music, video, photos and games, becomes more integrated into everyday life, the idea of static data storage is becoming obsolete. In today’s ondemand world, you want to access, share and secure your digital content using dynamic storage solutions that give you the freedom to do business, create and interact, anytime and anywhere. From protecting treasured family photos and personal music collections, to developing nextgeneration consumer electronics devices and large enterprise networks, Seagate delivers advanced digital storage solutions to meet the needs of today’s consumers and tomorrow’s applications.
Western Digital designs plug-and-play external storage devices that offer expansion, protection and backup of desktop,
notebook and netbook computers. These devices are durable external drive solutions for the home market that securely store videos, music and photographs. Because so much of what we do is now recorded in digital form, WD makes it easy to safely store and share the articles of our lives, and to make duplicates to prevent loss.
Iomega Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC Corporation headquartered in San Diego, is a worldwide leader in
innovative storage and network security solutions for small businesses, home offices, consumers and others. The company has sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks since its inception in 1980. Today, Iomega’s product portfolio includes industry leading network attached storage products, external hard drives, multimedia drives, and our award-winning removable storage technology, the REV® Backup Drive.
Symantec Backup Exec protects against business downtime and disaster with rapid, reliable backup and recovery, whilst their
enterprise class NetBackup product, allows businesses to unify their backup, recovery and archiving investments within a single backup platform.
With Symantec software and services, you can secure and manage your information-driven enterprise against more risks at more points, with greater efficiency, cost savings, and confidence. By standardising security and information management across physical and virtual platforms and endpoints, Symantec helps you ensure that information, infrastructure, and processes can be protected completely, managed easily, and controlled automatically—wherever information is used, stored or communicated.
By standardising security and information management across physical and virtual platforms and endpoints, Symantec helps you ensure that information, infrastructure, and processes can be protected completely, managed easily, and controlled
automatically—wherever information is used, stored or communicated.
Acronis is a global provider of storage management software that enables corporations and individuals to move, manage and
maintain digital assets. Acronis® Backup & Recovery™ 10 is the next generation disaster recovery product family, succeeding the Acronis® True Image product line. It is designed to provide centralised management of all workstation and server backup and disaster recovery activities in Windows and Linux environments to help organisations of all sizes meet challenging Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs).
How to Sell
Users of all sizes are dealing with the ever growing challenge of explosive data growth and how to manage and maintain that growth in a cost effective way. When looking to sell backup solutions it is important to understand the customer’s exact requirements so a solution can be tailored to deliver value and ROI back in to their business or private data protections needs.
The following questions are tailored to suit both home and business users’ requirements.
Questions to ask
Home Users
■ What would happen to your personal photos and video if you suffered a hard drive failure?
■ How important is the data stored on your system?
■ Are you able to set up and manage your backup yourself?
■ How quickly is your personal data growing?
Business users
■ What is your current backup infrastructure?
■ What is your full weekly backup size?
■ How quickly is your data predicted to grow over the next year?
■ What kind of data do you backup?
■ How much time do you spend administering backups?
■ Are your backups completing within the backup window?
■ What are your media costs per annum?
■ How do you increase your backup & restore performance to eliminate wasted time and missed recovery objectives?
■ How do you simplify your staffing and managing resources across multiple sites?
■ Are you controlling your cost and overall demand for space, power & cooling?
To speak to Avnet about any of the
Storage Solutions in this brochure, contact us on: T +44 (0)208 2865000
www.avnet.com/ts/uk
Avnet Technology Solutions Ltd. 5 The Sterling Centre
Eastern Road Bracknell Berkshire RG12 2PW, UK T +44 (0)1344 662000 F +44 (0)1344 662141 ats.uk@avnet.com
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