Entries categorized under “Data Protection”

Over the last decade or so EMC has assembled quite a collection of enterprise backup products: Legato NetWorker enterprise backup software in 2003; Avamar deduplication backup software in 2006; and, most recently, Data Domain deduplication appliances in 2009. As acquired each one enabled EMC to address key challenges that users faced at the time. However with EMC's release of NetWorker 8.0 one sees more clearly how EMC is bringing its larger vision to life: the transformation of these individual products into a single, comprehensive backup solution that meets the specific requirements of large enterprises. (read more)

Disk-based backup and deduplication have been godsends for many organizations looking for a fast, effective way to protect and store their growing amounts of data. However Oracle DBAs still sometimes feel like these two technologies have come up short in ways that have not adequately been addressed. SEPATON's new DBeXstream technology changes this by giving Oracle DBAs access to these two technologies with the corresponding increases in throughput and deduplication ratios that they were originally led to believe they would see. (read more)

Few IT administrators willingly want to refer to themselves as "backup gurus" under the best of circumstances. But as organizations virtualize their environments, even grizzled veterans who were previously comfortable with their backups are now unsure of the best way to proceed so their backups are completed quickly, easily and within designated backup windows. (read more)

In a little over ten years server virtualization has resulted in organizations virtualizing their application servers in growing numbers. However these same organizations are still coming to grips with the emerging complexities associated with protecting and recovering their newly virtualized applications. Rectifying this requires that companies put in place software specifically tailored for virtual machine (VM) protection that automates and simplifies backup without re-introducing its costs and complexities back into the mix. (read more)

To say with any degree of certainty what technologies will be hot in the next 6 - 12 months generally takes equal amounts of smarts and industry insight coupled with a little bit of luck sprinkled in to get it right. So as I compare what I forecast earlier this year to what I see taking place now, I was certainly right on some points but premature in predicting others. So today with the midpoint of 2012 upon us, I thought I would take a look at the five specific technology trends impacting organizations right now. (read more)

Dell has made a number of acquisitions over the last few years as it seeks to transform into a storage company. But after attending Dell Storage Forum in Boston this past week it is evident that it is well down the path of becoming something far more compelling than just a "storage" company. It is on track to becoming an infrastructure company. (read more)

If small and midsized businesses and enterprises think about archiving at all it is generally in the context of "They are not doing it." Imation wants to change that as it envisions a world - and is offering a technology solution - that enables SMBs and SMEs to centrally store their data, seamlessly archive it and eliminate the need to do backups. In this second part of my interview series with Imation's Global Marketing Director, Bill Schilling, we discuss how the Imation InfiniVault opens the door for more SMBs and SMEs to achieve these lofty objectives. (read more)

Backup software is often rightly viewed as the "sticky" part of an organization's backup infrastructure. But as organizations look to use the right backup solution for specific applications, the need to centralize where that backup data is stored and then how it is managed are becoming the larger issues companies need to address. As this change in perspective occurs, EMC Data Domain Boost (DD Boost) software is shaping up to become the new glue that helps hold enterprise backup infrastructures together. (read more)

In the last few years deduplication and backup have become almost inseparable. Yet where a large degree of separation still exists is in how deduplication is implemented with different deduplication techniques implemented at various stages in the backup process. Dedupe 2.0 promises to fix this jumbled approach to deduplication but to fix it, there first has to be someone delivering it. HP's new StoreOnce Catalyst release starts to introduce some order in today's backup process by doing more than simply delivering on its Dedupe 2.0 vision. It potentially gives organizations some hours back in their day as well. (read more)

In the last few years, Quest Software has acquired a number of companies in the data protection space - most notably Vizioncore, with its vRanger product, and BakBone Software, with its NetVault line of products. However, these acquisitions raise questions like: "Where is Quest Software going with these different products lines?"; "What will they look like?"; and, "What level of integration does Quest plan to deliver?" In the final part of my interview series with Quest's Senior VP of Data Protection, Walter Angerer, he answers the questions that are on the minds of many. (read more)

Today there is no shortage of purpose built backup appliances (PBBAs) from which enterprises have to choose. However that list shortens considerably when enterprises factor in how well a PBBA meets their backup performance requirements, integrates in their environment and satisfies the ever growing number of compliance requirements to which they are subject. EMC largely addresses these concerns with its new Data Domain DD990 system and latest Avamar 6.1 release as they combine to make a strong case as to why these EMC PBBAs should be at the top of every enterprise's PBBA short list. (read more)

Many small and midsized businesses (SMBs) are starting down the path of evaluating which cloud-based backup solution to use to meet their data protection needs. As they do, they may look at their total amount of data in their business and compare it to what they have at home and may even find they have roughly the same amount of data in each location. So they ask, "What type of cloud backup solution do I need?" and "Could I possibly use a consumer-focused cloud backup offering for my business?" (read more)

When Symantec shipped its first backup appliances in late 2010, it could arguably be said the primary intention of these appliances was to simplify the deployment of Backup Exec and NetBackup at customer sites by shipping both hardware and software as a single SKU. While that still holds true, these appliances also opened the door for them to offer specific features and assume their own unique identities. The new NetBackup 5220 begins to deliver on that promise as it now offers specific software and features that make it much more than just a "server with NetBackup software pre-installed on it." (read more)

As small and midsize businesses (SMBs) virtualize their servers at an increasing pace, many fail to consider the impact this change has on how they do backups - or that it impacts their backups at all. However since many IT administrators who are responsible for backups in these environments would freely admit to not being backup gurus, here are some tips on what features to look for in backup software in order to properly protect and recover your newly virtualized environment. (read more)

As small and midsize businesses (SMBs) virtualize their servers at an increasing pace, many fail to consider the impact this change has on how they do backups - or that it impacts their backups at all. However since many IT administrators who are responsible for backups in these environments would freely admit to not being backup gurus, here is some insight into how server virtualization changes backup and what SMBs need to know about backup as they implement virtualization in their environment. (read more)

As organizations virtualize more of their infrastructure, many face the question, "Use separate physical and virtual backup software products to protect these respective environments or consolidate on one backup platform?" Adding to the difficulty in making this decision is that virtualization-only backup software tends to release new features very quickly to keep up with user demands while having no roadmap to take on the protection of physical environments. (read more)

Ever since continuous data protection (CDP) was introduced nearly a decade ago, it has largely been a technology looking for a problem to solve. However in the last few years it is finding a home in the most unlikely of places - social media websites. But maybe what is most interesting is that little known R1Soft CDP has emerged as the early and widely recognized leader in this space. (read more)

Server virtualization has effectively broken the one-to-one relationship between servers and applications, enabling more efficient use of the host's physical resources. But this is not without its drawbacks, as applications like backup software that took advantage of these idle resources no longer have access to them. (read more)

Today's expectations for always-on environments, coupled with the introduction of Big Data into enterprise environments are stretching the capabilities of today's backup software well beyond what it was ever intended to solve. As such, enterprises can no longer look at backup software as a 'one size fits all' approach. (read more)

In the last few years, Quest Software has gone from having a small footprint in the data protection space to owning some of the leading products in this space through its acquisitions of BakBone Software and Vizioncore. To lead the company into this next decade of data protection and data management, Quest recently tapped Walter Angerer, who previously worked at Symantec and helped bring its NetBackup appliances to market. Today, I begin an interview series with Walter where we open by discussing how backup is changing, and examine the quantum leaps forward that have occurred in how backup and recovery are done. (read more)

Multiple interfaces, multiple products, and multiple systems to learn and become an "expert" in each one - such is the life of a backup administrator. Every administrator has at times longed for the day when he or she might be able to manage all of their backups and recovery operations, as well as virtual machine and replication snapshots, from a single, integrated interface. That day may be coming sooner than you think. (read more)

Symantec's announcement that it intends to reduce operational expenses (OPEX) associated with backup by up to 80% over the next 3-5 years is a pretty aggressive goal. It is only when one looks at the problem areas within companies and the new features found in NetBackup 7.5 that it becomes clear that achieving these savings are within any company's reach. (read more)

Recently I have had number of engaging conversations regarding how backup management is evolving. On the upside, many of the challenges associated with managing backup are definitely on the decline. But there are aspects of managing backup that are probably never going away and which every size organization needs to be prepared to manage indefinitely. (read more)

Disk-based backup is unequivocally on the rise in small and midsized businesses (SMBs). But as they transition from tape as their primary backup target, they do not necessarily want to abandon the benefits of tape nor immediately store their backup data in the cloud. Instead they want a product that meets today's backup requirements while acting as a bridge to get them where they want to be in the future. The new Imation DataGuard backup appliance bridges this chasm. (read more)

Disk-based backup is unequivocally on the rise in small and midsized businesses (SMBs). But as they transition from tape as their primary backup target, they do not necessarily want to abandon the benefits of tape nor immediately store their backup data in the cloud. Instead they want a product that meets today's backup requirements while acting as a bridge to get them where they want to be in the future. The new Imation DataGuard backup appliance bridges this chasm. (read more)