Disk-based backup keeps growing as new technologies spur adoption
Even in a tough economy, disk-based backup has seen growth, as more and more organizations shift away from using tape for their primary backup method. Fast data growth, bloated backup windows, security concerns and the unreliability of tape are all pushing businesses toward disk. It’s still more costly, but prices have dropped to make it more affordable—though users must consider cooling and energy costs. It can be used in combination with tape, and technologies like deduplication, virtual tape libraries (VTL), continuous data protection (CDP) and snapshotting are all making disk-based backup use easier.
Encryption is also increasingly present in backup software to add security to disk backups. VTLs can accelerate backup and recovery and increase availability. Cheaper SATA disks, rather than traditional Fibre Channel ones, also contribute to more affordable disk-based backup. Disk snapshots take point-in-time images for backup purposes. And data mirroring is a form of disk-to-disk backup. New developments in the storage space include direct disk-to-disk backup appliances.
Best-in-Class Disk-Based Backup Systems Features:
- Integrates with data backup software products
- Provides options, such as SATA disks, for disk-based backup decisions
- Offers good utilization for disk backups as compared with tape, and more availability when running multiple streams
Top Considerations before Buying Disk-Based Backup Systems Products:
As organizations move to disk-based backup, tape may still find its place; some may use disk-to-disk-to-tape as their preferred method. Technology offerings are moving toward real-time backup. Look for new products around disk-to-disk backup as the market matures; these might include high availability features, replication and better management of backup data. Generally, trends point to more automation around the entire backup process now that disk is involved. And deduplication, offering a way to reduce data written to disk, has pushed disk-based backup into the realm of possibility for many more organizations.
Key Products:
1. AvePointspecializes in enterprise-strength backup solutions for Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, and Windows Project Server. DocAve Backup and Recovery provides full backup and recovery for Microsoft SharePoint, whether an individual item or an entire environment along with its metadata, security and version history. DocAve classifies information automatically, includes a Template Builder and employs a centralized browser-based interface. It also can perform full, incremental or differential backups, and backs up to centrally managed tiered locations with built-in encryption, compression and pruning policies.
2. FalconStor Software provides data protection solutions including continuous data protection (CDP), virtual tape libraries (VTL), deduplication, Network Storage Server (NSS) and the HyperFS file system. All tools are built on the IPStor storage virtualization platform. The Continuous Data Protector offers unified backup and disaster recovery (DR). The File-interface Deduplication System (FDS) is a deduplication solution that helps reduce disk capacity by 95% or more. The HyperFS File System delivers a high-performance, massively scalable file system for data-intensive applications. Falconstor’s Virtual Tape Library offers backup optimization and supports high-speed protocols such as 8Gb Fibre Channel and 10Gb Ethernet. It’s also scalable and integrates directly with physical tape libraries, emulating nearly 50 different tape library systems.
3. NovaStor Corporation delivers backup and recovery solutions for data backup both onsite and online. NovaBACKUP Professional allows users to backup data and performs backup and restore procedures. The TimeSlider feature restores any file from a single view, and offers flexibility around how, when and where users back up data. NovaBackup Server offers similar features for server files, and allows complete system imaging and system restore. NovaStor’s NovaBACKUP xSP is a cloud-based/SaaS software offering that connects service providers and customers.
4. Zmanda offers open source backup and recovery solutions. Zmanda Recovery Manager 3.1 performs hot backup of MySQL databases and applications, point-in-time restore, and fast, scalable backups of large databases. It includes CDP, snapshot technologies, and automatic optimization of the preferred backup method. Zmanda Cloud Backup backs up Windows servers, desktops and live applications like Exchange and SQL server to Amazon’s online storage. Data can be recovered to a different machine if needed, and can be encrypted.
Disk Based Backup Systems
Definition: Disk-based backup is the ability to copy data from a storage device to disk so that, in the event of a hard disk crash, the data will not be lost. Disk-based backup can offer quicker restores and easier management of backup data than tape storage.
