When considering the backup process in the large Enterprise, tape is not dead nor is it going to be anytime soon, but it is clearly being augmented. How do you achieve harmony in a world where you must have tape and disk work together to accomplish your data protection goals? It is much easier to just have one or the other. Integration of disk and tape into a backup process has been a challenge for hardware and software vendors alike. What is needed is a new capability to integrate these to components seamlessly...Backup Virtualization.

Virtualization of Servers, the Data Center and Storage has all made life easier for the IT Professional, but none of these technologies integrate into the backup process. Data Protection stands on its own island of incompatible, non-integrated protection processes and targets. Virtualization of the Backup Process will change that.

Backup Virtualization allows for multiple backup applications to write to what appears to be a single backup target. That single backup target can then direct those backups to multiple stand-alone tape or disk targets. Those backup targets can be from a variety of vendors, allowing you to pick the right target for the right task. If you can generate data quickly enough and you are concerned about possible performance bottlenecks imposed by Data De-Duplication or even straight SATA arrays you can have a small cache of fibre that will then migrate to a Data De-Duplication appliance and then eventually to tape.

Backup Virtualization is not VTL

Backup Virtualization should not be confused with the traditional VTL solution. VTL's, while they may offer some capabilities of Backup Virtualization, are incomplete and don't tend to scale well. Most VTL solutions available on the market today come from a disk vendor. The reality of this is that while most support a wide array of tape targets, you are locked into that vendor's capabilities, scalability and cost as it relates to disk. If the disk vendor does not offer Data De-Duplication or their process is particularly slow or not as efficient as others then you are stuck. Many of the current VTL solutions on the market today cannot scale disk capacities required for even short-term retention required by enterprise customers. As a result we are seeing VTL farms appear in Data Centers where multiple VTL solutions are being deployed as the performance or capacity limits of the individual VTL are reached.

Backup Virtualization can play an immediate role here as well. Something that can be virtualized is the VTL farm itself, providing immediate value by simplifying the management of multiple VTL targets.

Backup Virtualization is not Disk-to-Disk Backup

Disk Backup and VTL solutions, especially those provided by disk vendors, also tend to struggle with the "move to tape" function. In fact most VTL solutions can not move directly to tape, the data is actually sent from the disk, back through the backup server and then finally to tape. This puts extra burden on the backup server and connection between it and the backup targets. Backup Virtualization supports a direct move to tape, freeing the backup server from this process. In an Enterprise, where because of capacity issues tape will continue to play an important role and the lack of integration between disk and tape, most disk and VTL targets actually complicate the backup process by providing the backup administrator with more targets to manage and one type of target (the disk) in particular that can't contain data for more than a few weeks or months.

Backup Virtualization, by bringing the backup environment down to a single target, streamlines and simplifies both the operation of the front-end backup software applications and the back end target storage areas.

Backup Virtualization enables Enterprise De-Duplication

In the large Enterprise, Data De-Duplication has been a desired capability but because of scalability concerns, a challenge to implement broadly. The need to have multiple storage units for Data De-Duplication and clearly the need for a separate path to tape will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. With Backup Virtualization multiple Data De-Duplication units can be purchased, virtualized and managed as a single entity. While De-Duplication will not happen across the separate appliances, Backup Virtualization can help manage data flow so that the same server's backup goes to the same Data De-Duplication appliance whenever possible.

Backup Virtualization enables Deep Tape, Enabling Deep Tape Lowers Costs

The capacities of a single tape device now are approaching and in many cases exceeding 1TB and there is growing concern about putting too much data on tape. Backup Virtualization is optimized for deep tape. With the combination of a small active cache for quick backups, Data De-Duplication appliance for medium term storage and tape for deep archive, the Enterprise can have the best of all worlds. The disk targets enable fast backups. Optimal tape backup performance is enabled by the direct path from disk to tape; almost always resulting in a reduction in the number of tape drives required, lowering acquisition and maintenance costs. By enabling deep tape you require fewer pieces of media, lowering acquisition costs again and shelf space costs.

Backup Virtualization can also optimize tape performance because the Backup Virtualization vendor can spend the extra development time taking full advantage of the SCSI command set available to tape devices, and as a result improve scan times to be able to get to data quicker on the tape device. This improvement in tape performance makes it significantly more acceptable in recovering of older data sets.

Backup Virtualization Enables Forward Migration

The choices in both backup sources and targets are broad. Backup Virtualization enables seamless change in those environments. On the backup software or backup source side, Backup Virtualization keeps the target compatible. As your selecting a new software application you will not need to be concerned if the software supports your particular disk and tape targets. Backup Virtualization masks that from the software.

On the target side the situation is similar, upgrading to a new or different drive technology requires no change to the software, the software keeps writing to the virtualized environment unaware of the change you simply take advantage of the increased speed or cost. 

Backup Virtualization enables Disk Only Backups and Disk Archiving

While tape can and in today's enterprise most likely will be a part of a Backup Virtualization solution it is not a requirement. As disk capacities continue to scale, especially with capabilities like Data De-Duplication and Disk Archiving more enterprises may want to consider a disk only environment. Backup Virtualization makes that transition smooth with the same migration capabilities mentioned above. If the day comes where you decide the technology and time is right for you to go disk only, you will be presented with a unique challenge; How do you get your relevant backups off of tape and on to disk? Only backup virtualization can move all your old backups on tape to disk, a reverse migration if you will.

In the Disk Archive space it also solves one of the great challenges, getting data to the archive. With Backup Virtualization you can leverage the backup process and infrastructure to get data to an archive appliance.

The Data Protection space is alive and well with new choices becoming available to protect and store data. Backup Virtualization provides the flexibility to implement the best of breed of these solutions with minimal disruption to your current process while at the same time allowing you the freedom to upgrade as new and different technology becomes available.