Web Abstract:
- Backup and recovery appliances ensure that you can recover lost or corrupted data.
- Backup and recovery appliance features to consider include whether the appliance requires agents, supports a heterogeneous environment, offers point-in-time/point-of-failure recovery, and provides the level of granularity you need.
- Backup and recovery appliances can help you meet regulatory agencies' storage compliance requirements.
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Because backup occurs behind the scenes, you might not know whether your backup
software is working as it should until you try to recover lost data, only to
find that your backup is corrupted or that you can't recover data close enough
to the time of data loss. It's enough to induce insomnia. But there's a non-pharmaceutical
solution to sleepless nights: a backup and recovery appliance.
Set It and Forget It
The main attraction of a backup and recovery appliance is its implied ease of
use—the "set it and forget it" quality that many IT pros crave in a backup
and recovery solution. Typically, appliances come preloaded with all the necessary
components, so you don't have to deal with multiple vendors, warranties, and
customer support departments. Plus, you don't have to be a storage specialist
to use backup and recovery appliances. Sounds great, but how do you decide which
appliance is best for your organization?
Appliance Features
The appliance you choose depends on your budget, the size of your organization,
the storage knowledge of your staff, and the particular storage, backup, and
recovery needs of your industry. The Buyer's Guide table on page 30 lists features
that you'll probably want to consider as you do your research.
Agents. Not all appliances are truly plug and play. If an agent
is required, it must be deployed, adding a step to the setup process; however,
an agent might give you functionality that you need. If an agent is required,
ask whether you can use Group Policy to deploy the agent or if installation
is manual. Along a similar line, determine whether you want a solution that
requires no integration with other software or whether you need one that works
with existing storage software. Typically, but not always, backup and recovery
appliances come preloaded with proprietary or third-party software.
Interoperability. If you're not an all-Microsoft shop, you
probably need an appliance that also supports non-Windows OSs. Even if you run only Windows, you might need
support for multiple versions.
Point-in-time recovery. Most organizations need to be
able to recover data from just before the system failed or
the data was corrupted or lost. If you need continuous data
protection (CDP), look for an appliance that offers it.
Granularity of recovery. If you need to be able to recover just
one file or folder without having to recover the entire volume or system, you'll
want to look for an appliance that can do so. Some appliances even offer bare-metal
recovery.
Management features. How will you monitor the success of your backup operations? You don't want to wait for
a disaster to occur to discover that backups didn't take place
as planned. Also, regulatory agencies might require confirmation that you're meeting storage compliance requirements. Backup and recovery appliances provide a variety
of management features, including monitoring, alerting,
and reporting. Pay attention to the details: For example, a
solution might offer the email alerts you need, but not to the
multiple-mailbox setup you want.
Application support. The appliance you choose should
be able to support any application you run. Some appliance
vendors say that their products support all applications.
Type of backup. What kind of backups do you want? As you wade
through the options, keep in mind the following rough definitions of some backup
types:
- Disk-to-disk (D2D) backup involves backing up a hard disk to another hard
disk; generally this approach allows for a faster restore than you'd get from
tape.
- Disk-to-disk-to-disk (D2D2D) backups add remote replication to D2D backups
for another layer of protection.
- Disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T) backups involve backing up data to a hard disk
to have an easily accessible copy, then copying the contents of the hard disk
to tape for long-term storage.
- Virtual tape storage or virtual tape library (VTL) backups involve saving
data as if it were stored on tape, but it's actually stored on a hard disk.
One advantage of VTL is that it integrates with your existing tape storage.
- NAS, which is a form of hard-disk storage, has a network address and is
attached to a LAN, giving you file-sharing capability.
Balancing Needs and Wants
Given the role data plays in the success of a business, a workable backup and
recovery solution is a nonnegotiable business requirement. As with most products,
backup and recovery appliances have trade-offs, such as cost versus feature
set and functionality versus simplicity. But the variety of available appliances
means that organizations of all sizes can find one that provides the features
they need at a price they can afford. Backup and recovery appliances offer great
payoffs, the least of which, peace of mind, you might find the most rewarding.
See Associated Buyer's Guide
End of Article
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