Disk-based Backup Brings an End to Elevator Joy Rides

Anyone who thinks tape is still the right primary target for backup only needs to watch a video on NEC's website that includes a testimonial from Orlando, FL, based TLC Engineering. In this testimonial, TLC shares some of its experiences using tape as its primary target for backup and recovery and the hassles associated with it. The situations that the individuals on the video describe are almost comical but, from past experience, I know that TLC's experiences are more common than not. For instance, the recovery procedures that TLC's network administrators had to go through in order to restore files from tape could include one or more of the following steps:

• If at home, the network administrator had to drive in to work
• Once there, they had to to to their workstation and log into the backup software to locate the file to recover and which tape the file was on
• Retrieve the tape
• Take the elevator to the floor where the tape drive was located (their data center spanned multiple floors in the same building) and insert the tape into the tape drive
• Take the elevator back down to their office
• Recover the file
• Notify the end-user the file was restored and wait until the end-user verified that he or she could read the file
• Get on the elevator again, retrieve the tape and then return it to its original location

Obviously every restore wasn't this complicated or required all of these steps but apparently all restores at TLC routinely called for elevator rides and the network administrator to be at work to perform the restore. This process took valuable time away from the network administrator who had better things to do than taking elevator joy rides to recover files while end-user work had to stop until the needed files were recovered. Bottom line, this approach was time consuming and a hassle for everyone involved.

So it is no surprise that TLC opted to go with disk backup in general and the NEC HYDRAstor specifically as its new backup target and source for data recoveries. In previous blog entries, I have discussed some of the inherent advantages that the NEC HYDRAstor provides to include scalability, ease of management, performance and high deduplication ratios that contribute to companies like TLC selecting the HYDRAstor. That is all well and good but there are also some intangible benefits of using the HYDRAstor that go well beyond all of the financial and technical reasons companies use to justify its deployment.

One of HYDRAstor's larger benefits is its file server based, grid storage architecture that contributes to eliminating many of the hassles associated with managing the backup infrastructure. Companies can simply attach the HYDRAstor to their existing LAN and then direct backup jobs to the disk target it presents. Since HYDRAstor is based on a grid storage architecture, it takes the guesswork out of how much initial performance or capacity companies need to buy for their short and long term needs. Instead companies like TLC can buy what they think they need and, if they need more storage capacity or performance, they can incrementally add what they need without the need to replace the exiting solution.

The other end result is a more productive, efficient workforce. By putting in a solution that scales to unlimited (theoretically) storage capacity or performance, it expedites backups and restores and eliminates the need to manage tapes so backups and restores occur successfully and more quickly. In the case of TLC, network administrators could now log in from home and restore files without needing to come in to work and take elevator joy rides to load and unload tapes. Meanwhile end-users who needed the files no longer have to wait indeterminable amounts of hours for the restores to complete.

As TLC discovered, creating an environment where hassle-free backups and restores can occur is possible. Yes, companies still need to give some forethought to what is the right solution for their backup environment and how best to configure it. But technologies like the NEC HYDRAstor are fundamentally changing how companies backup and restore their data and, in the process, making their IT staff more effective and efficient in their day-to-day jobs.