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Customer Success Story

Customer Success Story

Replacing Data Domain with ExaGrid Avoids Costly Upgrades and Cuts Backup Windows in Half

Customer Overview

Nucor Corporation and its affiliates manufacture steel and steel products at more than 300 operating facilities primarily in North America. Nucor is the largest steel producer in the United States, operating 24 scrap-based steel mills that have an annual production capacity of more than 27,000,000 tons. Nucor is also North America’s largest recycler, processing approximately 20 million tons of ferrous scrap annually to produce new steel that is 100% recyclable at the end of its useful life. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor’s headquarters are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the company employs more than 26,000 teammates.

Key Benefits:

  • Nucor Steel Jackson avoids forklift upgrade by installing scalable ExaGrid system
  • Nucor’s backup windows cut in half since switching to ExaGrid- Veeam solution
  • Data is restored rapidly from ExaGrid’s unique landing zone
  • ExaGrid’s customer support and daily reports keep system maintenance easy to manage
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Scalable ExaGrid System Replaces Data Domain

When Wiltz Cutrer started his position as Network Systems Administrator at Nucor Steel Jackson, Inc., he found that the existing backup solution was not sustainable. “As our data increased, our backup window was growing larger, to the point where it became worrisome. We were backing up our data to Dell EMC Data Domain using Veeam and Veritas Backup Exec. If we continued to use Data Domain, we’d have to rip and replace the system, which is expensive, so we decided to look into other backup storage options.

“I’d used an ExaGrid system at a previous position and decided to install one at Nucor, since I’d had such a positive experience with the product. I also was able to experience ExaGrid’s scalability firsthand in my last position when I was able to add ExaGrid appliances to the system to increase storage capacity and manage data growth, completely avoiding a ‘rip-and-replace’ situation, which was wonderful,” said Cutrer.

The ExaGrid system can easily scale to accommodate data growth. ExaGrid’s software makes the system highly scalable – appliances of any size or age can be mixed and matched in a single system. A single scale-out system can take in up to a 2.7PB full backup plus retention at an ingest rate of up to 488TB per hour. ExaGrid appliances contain not just disk but also processing power, memory, and bandwidth. When the system needs to expand, additional appliances are simply added to the existing system. The system scales linearly, maintaining a fixed-length backup window as data grows so customers only pay for what they need, when they need it. Data is deduplicated into a non-network-facing Repository Tier with automatic load balancing and global deduplication across all repositories.

Nucor Steel Jackson installed an ExaGrid system at its primary site that replicates to a second ExaGrid system at its disaster recovery (DR) site. “Setting up the replication was seamless. My ExaGrid support engineer called me and accessed the system remotely, and it only took 15 minutes to set up,” said Cutrer.

The ExaGrid system is easy to install and use and works seamlessly with the industry’s leading backup applications so that an organization can retain its investment in its existing backup applications and processes. In addition, ExaGrid appliances can replicate to a second ExaGrid appliance at a second site or to the public cloud for DR (disaster recovery).

"It’s very easy to restore data from Veeam, especially since the data is often already sitting in the ExaGrid landing zone. Having data so quickly accessible is another major benefit of using ExaGrid over Data Domain. "

Wiltz Cutrer, Network Systems Administrator

ExaGrid Cuts Backup Windows by 50%

Nucor Steel Jackson’s backup environment is mostly virtualized, and Cutrer is using Veeam to back up the virtual servers as well as the few remaining physical servers. He was impressed with how simple it was to install the ExaGrid system and to configure it to work with Veeam, with remote assistance from his ExaGrid support engineer.

ExaGrid Support Is ‘A Step Above’

In addition to shorter backup windows and quicker restores, one of the reasons Cutrer chose to install ExaGrid at Nucor Steel Jackson is its high-quality customer support. “ExaGrid Support is a step above the rest, and that was one of the main reasons that I decided to work with the product again. I like ExaGrid’s approach to customer support where I’m able to work consistently with an assigned engineer, someone I can reach out to directly to get the assistance I need. My ExaGrid support engineer knows my environment and understands what I am trying to do. I don’t see that level of support very often in the IT industry. ExaGrid’s technology is great, but it’s the customer support that makes such a huge difference in the experience of using the product.”

Cutrer likes the simplicity of managing the ExaGrid system and finds that the reliability of the system gives him confidence on a professional level. “ExaGrid’s reporting is much easier to keep track of. The Data Domain daily report was pages long and cumbersome to review as it didn’t highlight what needed to be addressed. ExaGrid reports what is happening in a single- pane view. It only takes a quick glance to know if everything is working properly. I don’t worry about the health of my backups anymore and I can answer confidently when my manager or an auditor asks about our backup processes. I know that our data is safe and secure.”

The ExaGrid system was designed to be easy to set up and operate. ExaGrid’s industry-leading level 2 senior support engineers are assigned to individual customers, ensuring they always work with the same engineer. Customers never have to repeat themselves to various support staff, and issues get resolved quickly.

ExaGrid and Veeam

Veeam’s backup solutions and ExaGrid’s Tiered Backup Storage combine for the industry’s fastest backups, fastest restores, a scale-out storage system as data grows, and a strong ransomware recovery story – all at the lowest cost.

ExaGrid-Veeam Combined Dedupe

Veeam uses changed block tracking to perform a level of data deduplication. ExaGrid allows Veeam deduplication and Veeam dedupe-friendly compression to stay on. ExaGrid will increase Veeam’s deduplication by a factor of about 7:1 to a total combined deduplication ratio of 14:1, reducing the storage required and saving on storage costs up front and over time.

About ExaGrid

ExaGrid provides Tiered Backup Storage with a unique disk-cache Landing Zone that enables fastest backups and restores, a Repository Tier that offers the lowest cost for long-term retention and enables ransomware recovery, and scale-out architecture which includes full appliances with up to 6PB full backup in a single system.

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