Disk Backup with Data Deduplication Product Line

ExaGrid EX Series Product Line

ExaGrid's disk-based backup with deduplication product line revolutionizes how organizations backup and protect their data. By leveraging your current backup application and replacing tape in your nightly backup process, ExaGrid's simple, turnkey appliance can:

• Reduce the disk space required by at least 10:1, and up to 50:1
• Shorten your backup window by 30-90%, ensuring all of your data is fully protected
• Improve your disaster recovery plan through off-site disk-based retention of your data
• Reduce the amount of time your IT staff spends on managing backups
• Scale easily and cost-effectively with your data growth
• Fully protect your virtualized environment
• Reduce other costs associated with tape-based backup

Technical details about the ExaGrid disk backup with data deduplication product line can be found below. Or click on the box to the right to request a live chat or click the Budgetary Pricing button on this page.

• Turnkey appliance: installs easily, reduces IT time and cost
• Post-process deduplication provides faster backups and restores
• GRID scalability
• Off-site disaster recovery for backup

ExaGrid EX Series Product Line – Simple, Turnkey Appliances

ExaGrid's disk backup appliances work seamlessly with the industry's leading backup applications, and the appliance typically installs in about one hour. The product line's six appliance models can be combined into a GRID configuration for environments of up to 100TB.

Each model is rated for a full backup size plus months of retention. For example, a 5TB ExaGrid server (EX5000) can store a 5TB full backup (5TB of primary data) plus up to 16 weeks of retention/history. If a 100TB system is required, then ten EX10000Es are used and virtualize into a single, GRID-based system.

Because of ExaGrid's unique Landing Zone Architecture (described below), each model has roughly twice the amount of useable disk to the size of the full backup it can land and store.

Six Mix and Match Servers

ExaGrid Model	Primary Data Capacity	Raw Capacity	Usable Capacity	Capacity for Weekly Fulls		Capacity for Daily Fulls		Backup throughput
				Copies	Total backup data	Copies	Total backup data
EX1000	1 TB	4 TB	2.5 TB	16	20 TB	75	75 TB	380 GB/hr
EX2000	2 TB	6 TB	4.5 TB	16	32 TB	75	150 TB	380 GB/hr
EX3000	3 TB	8 TB	6.5 TB	16	48 TB	75	225 TB	380 GB/hr
EX4000	4 TB	10.5 TB	8.25 TB	16	64 TB	75	300 TB	830 GB/hr
EX5000	5 TB	12 TB	9.75 TB	16	80 TB	75	375 TB	830 GB/hr
EX10000E	10 TB	23 TB	20 TB	16	160 TB	75	750 TB	1.8 TB/hr

ExaGrid appliances are comprised of Intel Quad Core XEON processors, enterprise SATA drives, RAID 6 hot spare, and ExaGrid software. Since each appliance includes the appropriate amount processor, memory, disk and GigE for the data size, as each server is plugged into the switch and virtualized into the GRID, performance is maintained and backup times do not increase as data is added. This combination of capabilities in a turn-key appliance makes the ExaGrid system easy to install, manage, and scale.

Post-Process Data Deduplication

The ExaGrid disk backup appliance uses post-processing to perform its deduplication. This means that the backup data is written directly from the backup server to ExaGrid's Landing Zone (disk) at the highest possible rate with no inline processing to interfere, resulting in the smallest possible backup window. Once the backup job is complete and off the network, the data is protected and immediately available for restore or tape copy. Then the appliance deduplicates (and simultaneously replicates) the data in the background.

Because ExaGrid's product allows each full backup to first land to the landing zone, it caches that most recent backup for rapid restore. Since over 90% of restores are done from the most recent backup, this approach avoids overhead incurred of undoing any deduplication during critical restores. As a result, restore times from an ExaGrid are 2x to 3x times faster than competitive solutions that do not preserve a complete copy of the most recent backup and store only deduplicated data.

ExaGrid's innovative approach minimizes the amount of data to be stored by using byte-level data deduplication across all received backups. ExaGrid's byte-level delta technology stores only the changed bytes from backup to backup instead of storing full copies. This unique approach reduces the disk space required by at least 10:1, and up to 50:1, delivering unparalleled performance for the fastest backups and restores, all in a solution that costs about the same as a new tape library.

Scalable GRID Architecture

The six core ExaGrid disk-based backup appliances include GRID computing software which allows them to virtualize into one another when plugged into a switch. As a result, any of the six appliance models can be mixed and matched into a single GRID system with full backup capacities up to 100TB (6 PB logical). Once virtualized, they appear as a single pool of long-term capacity. Capacity load balancing of all data across servers is automatic, and multiple GRID systems can be combined for additional capacity. Even though data is load-balanced, deduplication occurs across the systems so that data migration does not cause a loss of effectiveness in deduplication.

ExaGrid's unique approach to scalability provides the following benefits:

• Performance is maintained as your data grows - each additional ExaGrid server added to a system provides disk, processor, memory and GigE
• Plug and play expansion - adding an additional ExaGrid server is as simple as plugging it in and letting ExaGrid's automatic virtualized GRID software do the rest
• Cost-Effective and Flexible Solution with No "Forklift" Upgrades - no need to over-buy storage capacity up front – modular systems are easily combined in a virtualized GRID to smoothly scale up for larger capacities as needed with no painful “forklift” upgrades.
• Capacity utilization is load-balanced across servers - as a single server reaches full utilization, it can leverage space available on other servers in the GRID

Click here for examples of several common GRID configurations

On-site and Off-site, or Multi-site Disk-based Backup

In addition to single site, ExaGrid supports multi-site topologies. Each site can act as a data backup target for storage of local backups. In addition, each site can transfer just the changed bytes over the wide area network (WAN) to an off-site location so that the off-site location can perform data recovery if the local site is lost. By deduplicating the data at the primary site before transferring it over the WAN, network bandwidth is reduced by as much as 50:1, thus making disk-based offsite backup and offsite tape replacement economically practical for many IT organizations.

This support is bi-directional allowing systems used as off-site repositories to also act as local targets for data backups at those sites. With two-site configurations, it is very common to have both systems act as a local data backup target and to cross-protect each other by replicating the local data to the opposing site. With multi-site topologies, a centrally located site may cross protect with one of the other locations for long-term retention and disaster recovery for the central site backup data.

Multi-site Topology

ExaGrid also provides a seamless integration with Symantec's Open Storage Technology. tm allowing for streamlined disaster recovery and highly flexible retention policies for on-site and off-site backup data.

Have a product question? Click here to ask us now.