SMBs are being confronted with some tough choices right now when it comes to backup and recovery. While most want to use disk as their primary backup target, trying to balance recovery time objectives (RTOs), getting their data offsite and still keeping their costs under control makes this a fine line to walk. However an interesting answer to this problem was jointly presented to me last week at SNW by Imation and BDT Products.
Using a disk-based backup target is becoming almost the de facto solution for SMBs to adopt. But simply adopting disk does not eliminate many of the problems these organizations have regarding disk-based backup. Specific problems that they can encounter include:
- They only have one site so backing up solely to a disk appliance leaves them exposed should the site be impacted by a catastrophic event like a tornado or flood. This could destroy all of their backup data and leave them exposed.
- New removable disk options like RDX cartridges give them the benefits of disk with the portability of tape that they were accustomed. However it re-introduces the requirement to daily handle disk cartridges and take these offsite daily, weekly and monthly.
- Backing up to the cloud is becoming more popular until they actually have to recover data from the cloud. While recovering individual files is usually not a problem, trying to recover large amounts of data in a short time takes some of the shine off of the cloud’s glow. Further, doing the initial backup of all of any organization’s data to the cloud has been known to choke WAN connections and take days or even weeks to complete.
It is this problem of how to best introduce disk into SMB environments while still addressing all of these concerns that a new product that Imation and BDT Products are coming to market with in early 2011 that SMBs should find of interest. Though it is currently just in beta right now and only a pre-ship model was available for viewing at SNW last week, the concept that it introduces merits attention since it hits on many of the hot buttons that SMBs have.
What Imation and BDT Products demonstrated at SNW was an 8 slot disk library populated with RDX disk drives. While that in itself is nothing to get excited about, what made it interesting was that it gives users three (3) options to present itself to backup software: an RDX disk target; an LTO tape drive; or, a raw disk volume. Further each slot in the disk library can be uniquely presented to the backup software.
So the application for this disk library in SMB environments is this. They now have a solution that functions much like tape auto loaders do but, with 8 slots in this disk library that can each function as a separate and distinct backup target, it can conceivably be configured as followed:
- Slots 1 – 4 sequentially configured as the target for daily backups (M – Th)
- Slots 5 – 8 sequentially configured as a target for the weekly full backups (every F)
Used in this manner, organizations can eliminate the need to handle media every day and even minimize the requirement to take media offsite. But how is that possible since the RDX disk cartridges are still in the disk library?
This concern is addressed by a new relationship that Imation announced with Nine Technology last week. While the crux of that announcement centered on using RDX cartridges as a backup target to eliminate the bandwidth overhead associated with the initial backup to Nine Technology’s backup storage cloud, there is another potential application here.
Many SMBs are reluctant to switch out their existing backup software, especially to replace it with backup software that no one has ever heard of before. However what makes this relationship with Nine Technology interesting is that Nine Technology’s cloud backup software can potentially be loaded on this forthcoming 8 slot disk library appliance from BDT Products.
Used in this way, organizations can deploy this new disk library, configure it as a backup target using their existing backup software and then, once the backups are complete, configure Nine Technology’s cloud backup software to copy these nightly backups to the cloud once the initial backup is complete.
Now using this combination of RDX cartridges, Nine Technology’s backup software and 8 slot disk library, SMBs:
- Get the performance of disk-based backup
- Have data stored locally for fast recoveries
- Have the option to move any day’s backup data offsite at any time should they choose to avoid the latency of recoveries that
- Schedule backup data to be moved to the cloud daily, weekly or monthly
- Can continue to use established tape (now disk) rotation processes if they are working
- Avoid disrupting current backup routines
- Use the RDX technology as a means to seed to avoid choking the WAN
- Minimize the amount of time they have to spend handling media
In fairness, this is all hypothetical but in talking with representatives from Imation and BDT Products, they said there was no reason this could not be done. Further, since both Imation and BDT Products are the ones typically called upon to manufacture these types of products for better known brands such as Dell and HP, this solution or some variation thereof may find its way into the market place sometime in 2011.
Finally, Imation and BDT Products are exercising some constraint in pricing this product. While they did not commit to any prices, when I asked them if this 8 slot disk library would be priced around $10,000, they seemed to indicate that the retail price would be significantly less than that.
All in all, this looks like a pretty cool little solution that SMBs can expect to come to market in 2011 assuming Imation and BDT Products continue to execute and Dell and HP decide to bring them to market.
Note: SMBs for the purpose of this blog entry are defined as small and midsize businesses that backup no more than 1 terabyte of data nightly.