Remote Backup & Replication Solution Guide. When it comes to Storage we are the Solution

When it comes to Storage we are the Solution

What is Remote Backup?

Remote Backup is simply backing up data to a location other than an organisation’s central site. Remote locations typically do not have the IT personnel to manage data protection, so a solution is needed to protect data in branch offices or outlets that can then be replicated back to a central site. A prime example of this would be banks or retail chains with multiple shop fronts.

Any enterprise is vulnerable to unplanned disruptions. Reliance on complex supply chains, for example, can cause even a small interruption to bring an organisation’s operations to a halt, as can a disaster in another geographical location. A single local event such as a fire, theft, severe weather, computer virus, or human error can be catastrophic, wiping out years of data and crippling an organisation’s ability to function effectively.

It is important that businesses with remote sites have an adequate backup strategy that allows them to continue working locally in the event of a disaster elsewhere. In addition the local systems they deploy need to allow data to be replicated to a central site to ensure maximum data protection, this also means an up to date copy of local data is available to restore if required.

What is Remote Replication?

Equipment and applications can be replaced, yet digital assets can be irreplaceable, so the minimum disaster recovery (DR) protection that companies require, is to make backup data safe from loss or damage. When all copies of data are stored on a single hardware system, they are vulnerable to the same fire, flood, or other risks. For most users, removable media that can be removed off-site provides site loss protection. One of the main reasons that disk backup isn’t used more, is that backup sets are so large and network bandwidth too limited to allow the replication of backup data over networks.

However the introduction of data deduplication is making the remote replication practical. Deduplication ensures that only data blocks that have changed since the last backup are replicated. For instance if only 1% of a 500GB backup has changed since the previous backup on the source system, then only 5GB of data has to be moved to the target system to keep the two systems synchronised. This data can be moved in the background over several hours, meaning you can use a standard WAN (wide area network) to replicate backup sets.

To reduce the amount of time the first replication takes, devices can be co-located initially and the data moved over a faster network, or backup data can be put on tape at the source site then transported and copied locally onto the target system. After that first synchronisation the replication only needs to move the new data blocks.

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Replication Approaches – Synchronous

and Asynchronous

Synchronous replication, also referred to as mirroring, continuously maintains two primary datasets in the same state by transferring blocks between two storage systems at each I/O (input/output) cycle. Synchronous replication is normally designed to provide a very rapid automatic switch over to the replica if the primary dataset is compromised, and it usually involves two separate storage systems, often in different locations. Because synchronous replication systems delay I/O-complete status signals to the host until both the local and remote writes are complete, they require high-speed links, although performance is always reduced and they are more complex to manage. Therefore synchronous replication is typically reserved for very high value primary data used in transaction-oriented applications that must remain continuously available.

Asynchronous replicationmaintains a second data set dynamically, as a duplicate of the primary set, but it is allowed to lag behind the primary by some period of time. The delay may only be one or two I/O cycles (although it may be longer), so the mirror is a near replica. Asynchronous mirroring requires less bandwidth and normally minimises negative impact on operation of the primary data, although if the mirrored image falls too far behind the primary, the primary system may have to periodically suspend writes to allow the mirror to catch up.

Asynchronous replication can be applied to non-dynamic, point-in-time images, including backup images, to provide site loss and disaster recovery protection. It is much less complex to implement than mirroring techniques, can provide protection from other classes of faults, reduce an organisation’s use of removable media and it has less impact on primary applications.

What are the market drivers and applications

for Remote Backup & Replication?

■ 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. Replicating data to a remote site gives companies a significant uptime advantage when it comes to data recovery

■ The adoption of data deduplication has made the process of replicating backup data practical by reducing the bandwidth and cost needed to create and maintain duplicate datasets over networks

■ Specific legal or regulatory requirements make it necessary for organisations such as public sector bodies to retain information for a period of time.To facilitate a rapid recovery from an emergency part of that requirement can be that backup copies are stored remotely

■ Development of demanding service level agreements (SLAs) to provide provision for the restoration of systems in the event of an unexpected hardware or software failure

What is the growing market opportunity for

Remote Backup & Replication?

■ With a growth in remote sites and the added cost of local IT administration that comes with this, companies are looking for automated solutions that can backup data, restore data and delivery critical updates, without local and expensive expertise

■ Combining disk-based backup, tape, replication and de-duplication in an optimal way can provide very significant savings. A recent analysis at a major North American software supplier showed how adding de-duplication and replication to their backup mix could reduce overall costs by about one-third, through reduced media usage, lower power and cooling, and savings on license and service costs

■ Replication products have become much more reliable, stable, and affordable, allowing companies to make an off-site replica image of all their backup data everyday, enabling even small companies to deploy replication for disaster recovery

■ Growth of new market for web-based data storage and backup services – storage service providers (SSPs) or managed service providers provide the backup services that would burden a small or understaffed IT department. The main market for online backup is SOHOs (small offices and home offices) and SMBs (small and midsize businesses). Online backups can also benefit companies with access to adequate network bandwidth but lacking a secondary storage site to backup to.

Remote Backup & Replication solution

Quantum

Quantum’s DXi-Series with data deduplication technology reduces the amount of unique data that is being stored which in turn reduces the network bandwidth needed for replication by 90% or more. Deduplication provides automated disaster recovery and site-loss protection using existing networks, produces significant cost savings and reduces media handling (especially in distributed environments), finally making WAN-based replication a practical solution for DR protection.

At a basic level, deduplication-enabled replication is similar to deduplication-enabled data stores. Once source and target

systems have been synchronised, all that is required to keep the target identical to the source is the copying and movement of the new data segments added during each backup event. Quantum’s DXi-Series replication software further reduces bandwidth requirements, by first sending a list of the blocks available for replication to the target device, as a list is much smaller than sending actual data. This list is checked at the target device against an index of data already stored there and a list of the elements it doesn’t hold is returned. In response the source DXi-Series appliance only sends copies of new data segments over the network. The data segments are sent in the background, with the process beginning as soon as the backup job has begun on the source, so the replicated backup image is completed and made available for recovery at the target as soon as possible.

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sites can take multiple paths from source to target, so deduplication appliances should offer encryption capabilities to ensure the security of data transmissions. In the case of DXi Series appliances, all replicated data is encrypted at the source using SHA-AES 128-bit encryption and is decrypted at the target appliance.

DXi-Series systems share a common replication methodology, so users can connect distributed and mid-range sites with Enterprise data centres. The result is a cost-effective way for IT departments to store more backup data on disk, provide high-speed, reliable restores, increase DR protection, centralise backup operations and reduce media management costs.

The Quantum DXi3500 and DXi5500 are easy-to-use disk backup appliances for distributed offices and mid-range data centres.

The DXi7500 offers enterprise performance and capacity, along with direct tape creation, policy-based de-duplication, and high-availability architecture.

The DXi3500, DXi5500, and DXi7500 models all offer support for remote replication. Replication is asynchronous, one-to-one or multiple-to-one configurations; partitions in the same unit act as replication source or target.

All DXi solutions offer simultaneous NAS (network attached storage) and VTL (virtual tape library) inter-faces, and are supported by Quantum a leading global specialist in backup, recovery, and archive.

Main features and benefits of Quantum’s DXi Series:

■ Remote replication reduces the bandwidth required to move data, provides disaster recovery protection on existing WANs and reduces or eliminates media handling

■ Patented data deduplication technology increases backup disk capacity by 10 to 50 times

■ Broad solution protecting both distributed sites and large data centers, providing from 1.2TB to 240TB of raw disk capacity

■ All DXi Series appliances include Quantum Vision™ software that links all models and interfaces including NAS, virtual library, or mixed presentations along with Fibre Channel and iSCSI connectivity, to provide a comprehensive data protection strategy

■ Easy-to-use appliances that can be easily added to existing networks, supporting distributed and mid-range environments

■ True enterprise capability, with 8TB/hour performance, 240TB capacity, direct tape creation and high availability architecture, creating a secure, centralised backup system

■ Seamless integration with leading backup software, including support for Symantec’s OST API across disk, replication and tape.

Quantum’s solutions allow data deduplication technology to become part of a complete backup and retention solution set that includes conventional disk backup, tape, replication, and encryption, all supported with common management tools and consolidated service and support.

Overland Storage

Overland Snap Server network attached storage (NAS) solutions offer exceptional price/performance for individuals, remote offices, workgroups, departments, and distributed enterprises. Whether you need a fixed capacity system or massive scalability, Snap Servers include simple to use with “set it and forget it” reliability that minimises the demand for IT resources and lowers the total overall cost (TOC) of the solution.

If you have remote sites, Snap Servers allow you to provide each of them with a storage system that is just the right size.

Whisper-quiet desktop storage systems are powerful servers with 250GB to 1.5TB of disk capacity. Rack-mount Snap Servers are even more powerful, and are modularly expandable from 1TB to 88TB with virtually any combination of SAS and SATA drives.

Maintenance of remote storage systems is easy, even if you don’t have IT personnel at each site, because Snap Servers are reliable and easy of install. Additionally Snap Server Manager™ allows you to easily administer and view the status of geographically dispersed Snap Servers from a central location.

You can also move data securely between sites with the Enterprise Data Replicator™ (EDR) replication software that runs directly on the Snap Servers or other Window, Linux and UNIX servers. You can also push out price lists or inventory data to retail locations, collect financial data from remote offices, or continuously back up key remote servers to the central office to meet disaster recovery and compliance objectives.

What we offer

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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 performance, high-density storage.

How to Sell

The need to find a data protection solution that complies with current business regulations, whilst providing disaster recovery and remote backup for ever increasing amounts of data, is consuming huge amounts of IT time and can be especially painful for small and mid-sized businesses. One of the main problems is the cost of having dedicated IT resource on remote sites which has lead to non IT staff managing the local data protection policies. This is a huge risk to an organisation and can lead to costly human errors resulting in data loss and downtime.

Another growing area for replication solutions is in the SMB and medium size enterprise space. In this area most companies tend to back up their data every night, if a disaster then hits a critical server in the late afternoon the next day not only a day’s worth or work is lost but also systems can be down at the busiest period of the day. A simple replication solution would redirect users to a standby machine to provide continuity and also limit any potential data loss to minutes.

In the enterprise space replication should be a key element of any disaster recovery (DR) strategy deployed. By using

synchronous mirrors a company can deploy instant failover across a Wide Area Network (WAN) that allows two identical sets of data to be in two different locations. In the event of a failure there would be a seamless continuation of business to all sites.

Questions to ask:

■ What is your current backup infrastructure?

■ Do you have remote sites that need secure backup?

■ Do you have IT resource on your remote sites?

■ What is you current remote backup strategy?

■ Are your backups completing within the backup window?

■ How do you simplify your staffing and managing resources across multiple sites?

■ How do you keep data secure but within budget?

■ How do you reduce the overall data protection costs?

■ Do you have an adequate DR strategy in place?

■ What happens to your business in the event of a server failure?

To speak to Avnet about any of the

Storage Solutions in this brochure, contact us on: T +44 (0)208 2865000

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Avnet Technology Solutions Ltd. 5 The Sterling Centre

Eastern Road Bracknell Berkshire

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