Features - Storage Innovations:

DATA DOMAIN INTROS REPLICATION OPTION FOR DISK BACKUP/RESTORE

Data Domain announced general availability of Data Domain Replicator. Replicator is an add-on software package to the DD200 Restorer recovery appliance and uses the company's industry-leading Global Compression technology -- a benefit that makes remote replication both practical and cost-efficient by dramatically reducing bandwidth needs.

Replicator is a highly efficient network solution that helps consolidate or eliminate time-consuming and costly tape vaulting. It includes enhanced data protection features such as write-order integrity, network fault resilience and end-to-end recovery verification, key requirements for Disaster Recovery/Business Continuation planning.

"We've been using the DD200 Restorer for months and we are now using the Replicator add-on software module. As a result, we're only using tape for archival purposes," said Ned Rendell, MIS director of Mohler Nixon & Williams. "We're saving a lot of money and I can sleep at night because I know recoveries are a lot faster and more dependable. I can afford to keep a much longer retention period online in multiple sites. This is a no-brainer."

Through the use of Global Compression, the Replicator saves as much as 99 percent of the network bandwidth required by other disk-based backup/recovery solutions. Rather than transporting tapes to remote storage facilities, Replicator provides network vaulting so that client data is protected at remote offices and sites.

"Replicating over the network is a lot less hassle than tape vaulting, but WAN bandwidth is crazy expensive, so most folks don't replicate data remotely," said Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst of Enterprise Strategy Group. "Data Domain Replicator takes deduplication and compression to an extreme, and users win by using tape less and crushing the cost of the WAN. Best of all, you can just keep using your existing backup software infrastructure and restore from either side. This product has the potential to totally change the data protection game."

Most disk-based backup storage systems do not replicate because backup data can be so large. As a result, they do not minimize or help consolidate real tape use. By deduplicating the data and compressing before storing it, the DD200 needs to send very few changes to keep a replica up to date and allow recovery from either side of a WAN.

Key benefits of the Data Domain Replicator add-on software package include:

• TCO much lower than other replication approaches.
• Fast, online file recovery, locally or remotely, so downtime risks are mitigated.
• Integrates with standard backup software solutions.
• Promotes consolidation and reduction of tape vaulting infrastructure.