NetApp NearStore VTL Integration with Symantec NetBackup

The combination of NetBackup and NearStore VTL brings performance, reliability and usability into the data center. NearStore VTL complements NetBackup to better utilize and enhance legacy investments in tape hardware and media. NearStore VTL does not replace tape but extends its useful life by providing a high-speed cache to eliminate shoe-shining during the backup window and provides efficient write performance when generating physical tape. Reliability is enhanced by removing the mechanical handling of physical tape outside the backup window. Fast restore performance is achieved by keeping more recent backups on disk with older images automatically archiving to tape.



HARDWARE-BASED DISK COMPRESSION
High-performance data compression substantially increases backup and recovery service levels by doubling to tripling the amount of backup data that can be stored on disk, while also significantly increasing VTL write performance. NearStore VTL systems are unique in achieving these cost savings without sacrificing the performance required to meet backup windows in enterprise data centers. With compression enabled, the VTL700 delivers sustained write performance of 950 MB/sec, using data sets compressible at two-to-one, the equivalent of over 4TB per hour for a single controller system. In addition, NearStore VTL systems can achieve even higher performance levels if backup data is compressible at ratios beyond two-to-one.



CONTINUOUS SELF-TUNING
The NearStore VTL continuously balances backup streams across available disk resources to deliver optimal performance for all storage capacities and backup application workloads: no manual tuning is required. As data loads change, backup streams are automatically directed to the least loaded disks. If additional capacity is added, the NearStore VTL will automatically allocate I/O across the new disks to achieve the best possible performance.
The NearStore VTL can also instantly adjust to the variable data transfer rates of typical backup streams without sacrificing performance. Unlike tape drives, the NearStore VTL does not require data to be written within specific throughput ranges to achieve optimal performance; the NearStore VTL writes each backup stream at the maximum rate it can be delivered by most enterprise-class backup servers.



DIRECT TAPE CREATION
The NearStore VTL provides several workflow options for copying backup data from virtual to physical media, and each option is fully compatible with NetBackup media manager software. This means that physical tapes can always be located and retrieved, whether they are stored in a library or moved to an off-site location.
The highest backup performance is achieved when the NearStore VTL is used to copy backup images stored on disk directly to a physical tape library. This tape creation option replaces the much slower method of using the NetBackup server to perform the copy-totape operation. The NearStore VTL offloads this chore from the NetBackup server and reduces storage network traffic by writing directly to tape over high-speed Fibre Channel. By writing to tape in efficient, high-speed streaming mode, this method can actually increase the useful life of both tape drives and media since they are not subjected to constant “back-hitching / shoe-shining.”
Users have the option of creating tape copies immediately following a backup, during a specified time frame outside of the backup window, or whenever NetBackup issues an eject command. It is also possible to retain virtual tapes in the NearStore VTL (subject to customer retention policies) even after the physical copy has been removed from the tape library. This workflow option provides the protection of off-site storage and the benefits of high-speed disk restores.
Users still have the option of using the backup server to process all of the copy-to-tape operations. However, this option is slower than using the NearStore VTL to create tapes and does not fully utilize the inherent performance benefits of disk-based backups. For all of the options described above, the physical tapes are written in 100% native NetBackup format. This means any physical tape, which has been generated by the NearStore VTL, can be restored by a NetBackup server from any physical tape drive configured as the same media/drive type as the virtual media/drive type in the VTL. It is not necessary to provide a NearStore VTL at the disaster recovery site.