Disk-Based Backup Appliances Go Head-to-Head

STORServer D1 Backup Appliance
The STORServer D1 Backup Appliance comes as a tower or rack-mountable device. You can add a rackable shelf for a total of 6U (10.5") of rack space and up to a 6TB capacity. The appliance runs Windows Storage Server, so you can access and manage it just like any other Windows machine.

The D1 is bundled with IBM Tivoli Storage Manager. TSM is the epitome of functional but complicated backup software, but don't let that scare you. TSM comes installed and preconfigured by STORServer. To back up a server, all I had to do was deploy a Windows Installer-based client agent from a file share on the appliance. The client was automatically added to a backup schedule that performed an initial full backup and daily incremental backups between 8:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. Performing a restore was equally easy. Just as STORServer's default configuration managed the backup schedule, TSM managed location of the necessary incremental backups. However, I had to perform the restore from the machine I was restoring to instead of via the D1 console.

The D1 also includes STORServer Manager (SSM), a software component to help manage TSM. The SSM console, which Figure 3 shows, let me identify failed jobs, warnings, skipped files, and other potential problems with TSM. SSM includes an alerting feature that I configured to send me an email message when a job failed or when the disk was getting full. STORServer sells technical support as an add-on to the D1 appliance. The support employees are knowledgeable and fully support the D1 appliance, SSM, and TSM.

TSM includes open-file support at no additional charge. Although the TSM configuration was simple and wizard-based, I discovered that the current version of TSM supports Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to back up the system state only and not other types of data on a volume. TSM's native open-file technology, Logical Volume Snapshot Agent, doesn't currently support Windows Server 2003. This was disappointing, though it's likely a temporary drawback, as future versions of TSM will fully support Windows 2003.

The D1 has almost everything I originally set out to find. It's a complete hardware and software solution, and the hardware is expandable. TSM is functional enough to meet complex backup needs, but STORServer made simple configurations easy and error-free. The D1 isn't the lowest-price solution I considered, although it's competitively priced. I give the D1 four diamonds and the Editors' Choice award because it has the best balance among ease of use, advanced functionality, and price of the four products I reviewed.

RocketVault
Intradyn takes a much different approach to its 1U (1.75") RocketVault backup appliance from the other appliances I tested. It's a true appliance because all required hardware and software reside on the device. The RocketVault backup appliance operates without agents and lets you back up an unlimited number of computers without buying additional licenses. For offsite storage, it can replicate backups to RocketVault appliances over the network by using block-level differencing (based on the Rsync utility) so that only changes consume valuable bandwidth. RocketVault's agentless model can't back up everything you might need to protect, though, and the solution is expensive compared with the other products I reviewed.

RocketVault runs the FreeBSD OS and accesses remote data for backup via Windows shares instead of an agent. Given the appropriate credentials, RocketVault can back up your entire hard disk by using administrative shares (hidden shares named <diveletter>$), but it can't back up open files, the registry, system state, or AD. Intradyn's BackAgain software can use RocketVault's storage to back up such data, but BackAgain requires an agent and isn't typically sold as part of the RocketVault solution. If you're willing to back up your system state and other such data to local disk by using other tools, such as NT Backup, you might find RocketVault a useful solution.

RocketVault's simple Web-based UI, which Figure 4 shows, makes backup easy. I started by defining groups of shares from various computers on my network, then scheduled backup for each group. RocketVault supports only three preconfigured backup schemes—daily, weekly, and monthly—but this simplicity makes the product easy to use. RocketVault's excellent documentation explains what points in time each schedule lets you recover to and advises you on how much disk space you'll probably need for each schedule.

If you want to back up only user data and not the full system, RocketVault's true-appliance model makes for an easy backup solution. If you ever decide you need more advanced backup capabilities, though, you'll have to buy additional software and set up all new backup schemes. Although Intradyn succeeded in making backup simple, I didn't like RocketVault's missing advanced functionality or high price tag and therefore give RocketVault 2.5 of 5 diamonds.

No Perfect Solution
Having tested all four solutions, I found that no appliance fully automates backup and restore operations; providing reliable backup still requires time and effort from an IT pro. The STORServer D1 Backup Appliance comes with most of the work done for you, but STORServer Manager only thinly veils TSM's complexity, so I recommend purchasing the tech support. InteliNAS with VERITAS Backup Exec is easier to use, but a diligent IT pro must thoroughly test the self-configured backup scheme. Intradyn's RocketVault is the easiest to use of the products, but it doesn't provide the system state and AD backups that Windows sites require. Exabyte's D2D2T Solution, which includes a tape autoloader as a standard feature, was the most complete bundle, although it also took the most work to manage. Although I'd consider buying a backup appliance, I look forward to the market producing even better solutions in the future.

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