July 17, 2006 08:01 AM US Eastern Timezone

 

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 17, 2006–Recent headlines have made enterprises keenly aware of the high risk and severe consequences of losing backup tapes. The highly manual nature of tape backup is not only risky, but it also makes tapes vulnerable to mechanical failures, human error, theft, and damage throughout the backup lifecycle. As a result, more and more enterprises are using electronic vaulting to move data to secure off-site storage without the need for human intervention or physical transportation.
SEPATON, Inc. has outlined six steps to help ensure secure and efficient electronic data vaulting. These steps include:

Step 1 - Backup More Data, More Often and Recover Data Faster

Backing up data to physical tape can require so much time and IT staff attention to address failures that many companies do not backup data frequently enough to provide adequate protection. Restoring data from tape also requires several hours to days - well beyond the recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) of most businesses.

Cut backup and restore times, reduce media costs and dramatically improve backup reliability by implementing a virtual tape library (VTL) system in the backup and restore environment. A VTL emulates existing physical tape library so there is no disruption in current backup and restore infrastructure or policies. Implementing a VTL will allow businesses to retain data on SATA disk for much faster backup/restores. It will also cut tape media costs by reducing the need for nightly tape backups (incremental backups can be kept online).

Step 2 - Eliminate Opportunities for Human Error

Human intervention accounts for the majority of security risks for physical tapes. These risks include tape loss, theft, or damage during transportation to off-site vaulting as well as the risk of errors in both tape handling/media management and backup procedures.

Eliminate human intervention and its risks by installing a VTL at the vaulting/disaster recovery site and replicating cartridges to it over the existing WAN. A VTL eliminates risks posed by transportation of physical tape to off-site storage and provides protection throughout the entire data protection cycle-from backup to vaulting. VTL systems can be configured to automatically vault cartridges immediately after cartridges are created under the control of the backup application. By automating this process data is immediately protected without human intervention and IT staff resources are free to focus on more strategic tasks.

Step 3 - Choose a Recovery Model for Optimal Backup and Restore

Companies should evaluate their current infrastructure and business objectives to determine the recovery model that best meets their needs. Regardless of the model they choose, recovering data using a VTL will be significantly faster, easier, and more reliable than recovering data from physical tape. Typical recovery models include the hot-cold model, the hot-warm model, and the hot-hot model.

Step 4 - Choose an Electronic Vaulting/Recovery Site Model

In addition to the recovery models described in step 3 above, businesses can implement automatic electronic replication in several ways: site-to-site, one-to-many sites, or many-to-one site, depending on their environment.

– Site-to-Site: In the most typical configuration, the VTL acts as both source and destination. Data is automatically replicated from one VTL to another based on policies

– One-to-Many Sites: Replicate data from one VTL to multiple VTLs at the same time for maximum disaster protection.

– Many-to-One Site: Use the VTL’s ability to act as destination for multiple sources to centralize data protection on a single backup VTL system.

Step 5 - Secure Data during Transfer

Advanced VTL technologies are inherently more secure than tapes. This is because sophisticated VTL technology stripes data across multiple disks to deliver hack-proof security as well as full failover capabilities within the overall disaster recovery strategy. VTLs also protect data from unrecoverable losses by eliminating the risk of failed backups or defective media associated with physical tape. Add to this security by securing data during transfer. Consider using the encryption options available in WAN routers by using an encryption appliance to encrypt data moving from the VTL to backend SATA storage or to the physical tape library.

Step 6 - Redeploy Physical Tape Assets for Long-Term Archival Use

Physical tape is efficient for long-term archiving of data. Redeploy the tape media freed up by the VTLs in the datacenter to a vaulting site to create tapes for long-term archiving. Archived tapes never have to leave the storage team’s control throughout the entire process.

About SEPATON, Inc.

SEPATON is enabling companies of any size to comply with demanding data storage and retrieval requirements by changing the rules of data protection and leading the evolution to NO TAPES. We provide innovative, disk-based solutions that are intelligent, reliable and reduce storage, management and recovery costs. Because the proven SEPATON ContentAware(TM) architecture keeps track of all files and content, it enables faster and more efficient performance of a range of advanced data protection, data retention and data recovery functions. SEPATON’s virtual tape library systems dramatically out-perform tape and other disk-based solutions. For additional information call 508-490-7900 or visit www.sepaton.com.

SEPATON, SRE and S2100 are registered trademarks of SEPATON Corporation. ContentAware, Site2 and DeltaStor are trademarks of SEPATON Corporation. All other brand and product names are or may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Note to Editors: SEPATON executives are available to talk about issues relating to secure, tapeless data vaulting. Please contact Beth Winkowski at 978-649-7189; bwinkowski@att.net to arrange an interview.
Contact:
Winkowski Public Relations
Beth Winkowski, 978-649-7189
bwinkowski@att.net

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