FalconStor FDS Delivers on the New Prerequisites of Disk-based Backup 2.0
Right now deduplication and replication are the two main features seen as critical to delivering on the promise of disk-based backup. But as organizations store more of their backup data to disk, they are quickly realizing that other features are required to successfully execute on the redesign of their backup infrastructures. Specifically, companies with numerous remote offices are finding that systems availability and data management cannot be overlooked in their disk-based backup redesigns and is what today's release of FalconStor's File-interface Deduplication System (FDS) 2.0 is intended to address.
It is no secret that deduplication and replication are becoming inextricable linked with disk-based backup. But as organizations deploy disk-based backup in conjunction with deduplication and replication, they are finding that it is not quite enough to solve all of their problems. Disk solves their immediate tactical problems of successfully completing backups more quickly; deduplication reduces their backup data stores; and, replication moves the backup data offsite. But as organizations scale out these solutions, they are encountering new challenges with managing and recovering this data.
Two specific concerns that have emerged include:
First, FalconStor increased the replication fan-in ratio of FDS from 32:1 to 150:1. This was done to meet the requirements of some of its customers that had over 100 remote and branch offices and wanted to replicate that data back to a central site.
These same customers also wanted high availability for the FalconStor FDS solution deployed at their central site to ensure replication and recovery at the remote sites could occur without interruption. To accommodate that requirement, an FDS appliance can now be configured with two highly available controller nodes.
This new high-availability feature on FDS 2.0 also has another application: ensuring that the backup windows of large capacity, highly available database applications are met. One of the problems of using disk-based backups for these applications is that if the backup appliance fails, so does the application's backup. By using this new high availability feature, organizations can mitigate the possibility of these backup failures occurring.
Backup software defaults may need to be increased to account for the failover time of the FDS appliance or the backup jobs put into a queue so they can restart and pick up where they left off after a failover. In either case, the possibility for backup job failures is minimized while negating the need for someone to come onsite or login and restart the backup job remotely.
The other major improvement that FDS 2.0 brings forward is improved management of the backup data. FDS 2.0 now integrates with the Symantec NetBackup OpenStorage API (OST) protocol so organizations with NetBackup can use it to control and manage replication of data, even down to what backup jobs are replicated between sites.
Those sites that do not have NetBackup can still take advantage of these more granular policy management features for data movement and replication using FDS. FDS includes its own central management console so these policies can be setup and administered for all FDS appliances under its management. In so doing, FDS 2.0 empowers administrators to specify which files and folders that they want to replicate which contributes to minimizing the bandwidth and storage capacity consumed while enabling centralized management of backup data.
All size organizations are moving towards disk based backup but, as they do so, are finding deduplication and replication are alone not enough to ensure a seamless transition from tape to disk. This is leading to disk-based backup product moving to 2.0 offerings that add higher fan-in ratios, higher availability and improved management capabilities such as what the new FalconStor FDS 2.0 offers. In the process, it addresses new user requirements for making the implementation and management of disk-based backup a more automated process to successfully execute upon.
It is no secret that deduplication and replication are becoming inextricable linked with disk-based backup. But as organizations deploy disk-based backup in conjunction with deduplication and replication, they are finding that it is not quite enough to solve all of their problems. Disk solves their immediate tactical problems of successfully completing backups more quickly; deduplication reduces their backup data stores; and, replication moves the backup data offsite. But as organizations scale out these solutions, they are encountering new challenges with managing and recovering this data.
Two specific concerns that have emerged include:
- The availability of the disk-based backup solution. Many disk-based backup solutions are based upon single controller architectures that keep the upfront costs associated with disk-based backup low in remote and branch office. However when replicating this backup data to a central target, this target needs to remain constantly available both to receive the incoming replicated data and be ready to act as a standby unit should an appliance in a remote or brand office go off-line.
- Better centralized management of the backup data. As organizations centralize their data repositories in these remote offices, they are finding that it is not a requirement that they replicate all of the data at these sites to a central site. Further, managing what data is replicated and when it is replicated often becomes the responsibility of someone in the main office. This calls for the solution to include policies that can perform these tasks.
First, FalconStor increased the replication fan-in ratio of FDS from 32:1 to 150:1. This was done to meet the requirements of some of its customers that had over 100 remote and branch offices and wanted to replicate that data back to a central site.
These same customers also wanted high availability for the FalconStor FDS solution deployed at their central site to ensure replication and recovery at the remote sites could occur without interruption. To accommodate that requirement, an FDS appliance can now be configured with two highly available controller nodes.
This new high-availability feature on FDS 2.0 also has another application: ensuring that the backup windows of large capacity, highly available database applications are met. One of the problems of using disk-based backups for these applications is that if the backup appliance fails, so does the application's backup. By using this new high availability feature, organizations can mitigate the possibility of these backup failures occurring.
Backup software defaults may need to be increased to account for the failover time of the FDS appliance or the backup jobs put into a queue so they can restart and pick up where they left off after a failover. In either case, the possibility for backup job failures is minimized while negating the need for someone to come onsite or login and restart the backup job remotely.
The other major improvement that FDS 2.0 brings forward is improved management of the backup data. FDS 2.0 now integrates with the Symantec NetBackup OpenStorage API (OST) protocol so organizations with NetBackup can use it to control and manage replication of data, even down to what backup jobs are replicated between sites.
Those sites that do not have NetBackup can still take advantage of these more granular policy management features for data movement and replication using FDS. FDS includes its own central management console so these policies can be setup and administered for all FDS appliances under its management. In so doing, FDS 2.0 empowers administrators to specify which files and folders that they want to replicate which contributes to minimizing the bandwidth and storage capacity consumed while enabling centralized management of backup data.
All size organizations are moving towards disk based backup but, as they do so, are finding deduplication and replication are alone not enough to ensure a seamless transition from tape to disk. This is leading to disk-based backup product moving to 2.0 offerings that add higher fan-in ratios, higher availability and improved management capabilities such as what the new FalconStor FDS 2.0 offers. In the process, it addresses new user requirements for making the implementation and management of disk-based backup a more automated process to successfully execute upon.
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