ZipRealty finds a home for its online backup data with Zetta

IT Director Richard Tso needed an online backup and archive solution to relieve the congestion his primary SAN. ZipRealty, Inc. was founded in 1999 to simplify the complex and stressful tasks of buying and selling a home. Their innovative online solution guides clients step-by-step through the home buying and selling processes with licensed ZipRealty agents to chauffeur them along the way, helping customers to save thousands of dollars and quickly and more efficiently reach their real estate goals.
 

The Challenge:

As an online, data-driven business, ZipRealty and IT Director Richard Tso required extensive file storage, including space for online backup data and terabytes of legacy archive data that, while not needed on a regular basis, had to be accessible online. Leaving these files on the expensive primary SAN storage was not the answer.
 
“We were looking for a more economical way to store the archived data,†explained Tso. “We even looked into building a box ourselves with low-cost SATA drives, but then we found a better answer with Zetta.â€
 

The Zetta Solution:

Initial testing began in the Fall of 2010 with about two terabytes of small image files. Some performance issues surfaced, as files weren’t moving quickly enough, so changes were made to both the Zetta system as well as how the client on the ZipRealty servers was configured. “Zetta engineering and support worked with us and improved performance of small files,†said Tso. “Now it’s reliable and quick.â€
 
Today, Zetta Data Protect with ZettaMirror is running on a number of ZipRealty’s Linux servers, moving archived data to the Zetta storage service in Santa Clara, California. Files to be archived are placed into specific directories on the local servers. ZettaMirror moves the files to Zetta, two or three times per month, as necessary. ZipRealty is using a scriptable command line interface rather than the GUI interface, as that better fits their operations. Data is both transferred to Zetta in encrypted format and stored in encrypted format at Zetta for complete security. The Zetta storage service provides enterprise-class and better data protection with redundancy throughout.
 
Recently, ZipRealty began relying on ZettaMirror to synchronize and back up critical end user files on its Linux servers. These directories are scanned and changed files or blocks moved to Zetta multiple times per week.
 
ZipRealty is currently backing up and archiving over five terabytes of data to the Zetta Storage Service. For additional data protection, the ZipRealty Santa Clara Zetta volume is set to automatically replicate to the Zetta Secaucus, New Jersey data center, maintaining a redundant copy of the archived data across the continent.
 
The Results:
With Zetta, ZipRealty now has a smoothly running, cost-effective data archive system and process. Terabytes of information have been moved to the Zetta storage service, freeing up expensive primary SAN space for other uses. Although ZipRealty has not had to pull back data from Zetta for an emergency recovery, they did test out the recovery process and recovery times, and everything worked well.
 
Future plans call for expanding the use of ZettaMirror for additional file backups.
 
“We’re very happy with Zetta,†concluded Tso. “ZettaMirror is rock solid. We don’t even worry about it.â€
 
For more information, visit the Zetta Online Backup & Instant Recovery information center.

IT Director Richard Tso needed an online backup and archive solution to relieve the congestion his primary SAN. ZipRealty, Inc. was founded in 1999 to simplify the complex and stressful tasks of buying and selling a home. Their innovative online solution guides clients step-by-step through the home buying and selling processes with licensed ZipRealty agents to chauffeur them along the way, helping customers to save thousands of dollars and quickly and more efficiently reach their real estate goals.
 

The Challenge:

As an online, data-driven business, ZipRealty and IT Director Richard Tso required extensive file storage, including space for online backup data and terabytes of legacy archive data that, while not needed on a regular basis, had to be accessible online. Leaving these files on the expensive primary SAN storage was not the answer.
 
“We were looking for a more economical way to store the archived data,†explained Tso. “We even looked into building a box ourselves with low-cost SATA drives, but then we found a better answer with Zetta.â€
 

The Zetta Solution:

Initial testing began in the Fall of 2010 with about two terabytes of small image files. Some performance issues surfaced, as files weren’t moving quickly enough, so changes were made to both the Zetta system as well as how the client on the ZipRealty servers was configured. “Zetta engineering and support worked with us and improved performance of small files,†said Tso. “Now it’s reliable and quick.â€
 
Today, Zetta Data Protect with ZettaMirror is running on a number of ZipRealty’s Linux servers, moving archived data to the Zetta storage service in Santa Clara, California. Files to be archived are placed into specific directories on the local servers. ZettaMirror moves the files to Zetta, two or three times per month, as necessary. ZipRealty is using a scriptable command line interface rather than the GUI interface, as that better fits their operations. Data is both transferred to Zetta in encrypted format and stored in encrypted format at Zetta for complete security. The Zetta storage service provides enterprise-class and better data protection with redundancy throughout.
 
Recently, ZipRealty began relying on ZettaMirror to synchronize and back up critical end user files on its Linux servers. These directories are scanned and changed files or blocks moved to Zetta multiple times per week.
 
ZipRealty is currently backing up and archiving over five terabytes of data to the Zetta Storage Service. For additional data protection, the ZipRealty Santa Clara Zetta volume is set to automatically replicate to the Zetta Secaucus, New Jersey data center, maintaining a redundant copy of the archived data across the continent.
 
The Results:
With Zetta, ZipRealty now has a smoothly running, cost-effective data archive system and process. Terabytes of information have been moved to the Zetta storage service, freeing up expensive primary SAN space for other uses. Although ZipRealty has not had to pull back data from Zetta for an emergency recovery, they did test out the recovery process and recovery times, and everything worked well.
 
Future plans call for expanding the use of ZettaMirror for additional file backups.
 
“We’re very happy with Zetta,†concluded Tso. “ZettaMirror is rock solid. We don’t even worry about it.â€
 
For more information, visit the Zetta Online Backup & Instant Recovery information center.