Nexsan Launches Next-Gen Enterprise Backup Solution

Nexsan today rolled out its next-generation disk-to-disk backup technology platform; an enterprise data protection solution that the company says outpaces traditional tape-based backup alternatives in both functionality and value.

The new InfiniSAN D2D Professional combines cost-correct RAID-5 storage arrays with advanced storage management software to deliver a broad range of data protection capabilities and customer benefits that the company says are simply not available with conventional tape-based backup architectures or other D2D solutions. According to Nexsan, D2D Professional allows network administrators to seamlessly protect not only databases but all computers across the network, thereby providing a solution that lets them protect corporate-critical data across multiple operating systems and restore it at both a speed and price that beats tape hands down.

“This total enterprise D2D backup and restore solution provides customers with new levels of simplicity, reliability and affordability that can’t be achieved with any tape backup or D2D solution alternative,” said Diamond Lauffin, Nexsan’s Senior Executive Vice President. “D2D Professional is so effective at eliminating the complexity and reliability problems inherent in traditional tape backup solutions that we can guarantee lower TCO for secondary storage for the enterprise.”

The InfiniSAN D2D Professional uses a client/server architecture to provide high-performance backup and recovery for a single system or a wide variety of systems across the entire enterprise via TCP/IP. Master and incremental backups for each client or group of clients can easily be scheduled as often as desired.

The InfiniSAN D2D Professional incorporates event-based, real-time backup to either a local on-site/on-line primary or an off-site/on-line secondary disaster recovery system. Nexsan’s Datasweep technology picks up critical files in a given directory automatically and without intervention on regular intervals any time the files change. This event-based model eliminates backup window problems and the exposure to loss of a full business day’s data associated with traditional backup applications. Unlike tape-based backups, all backed up files are available on-line, and easily accessible for fast and simple restoration.

Additionally, D2D Professional incorporates custom crash recovery software, enabling Nexsan users to not only back up their data, but most importantly, quickly restore crashed operating systems within a matter of minutes, rather than the hours a clean reinstall usually takes. The Nexsan solution means a crashed computer or server no longer requires hours of downtime.

An internal self-correcting online database keeps track of all files and verifies all backup and restore operations, ensuring that all critical data is reliably protected. Nexsan’s software technology provides this functionality with a database that is, according to the company, 95 percent more compact than competitive products.

D2D Professional supports nine different Unix platforms as a server: Linux — all versions, SCO — Unix Classic, OSR5, UnixWare, Sun Solaris, SunOS, x86, DEC Alpha, HP-UX and AIX. Extensive client support is also provided, including Linux, SCO, Solaris SPARC Solaris Intel, SunOS, SGI Irix, BSDI, FreeBSD, Open BSD, AIX, Dec Alpha, DG-UX, HP-UX, Windows 3.x/95/98/ME, NT, Workstation, XP, Novell 3.11, 3.12, 4.x and Citrix.

InfiniSAN D2D Professional is currently available in two configurations: the entry-level D2D Pro-5 that contains one server, five clients, Bare Metal support and 1TB of capacity; and D2D Pro-50, with support for 50 clients of any type, one Unix/Linux/NT server, all relational database agents for Oracle, SQL, Sybase or Informix, Bare Metal support for all clients, unlimited slot support for archiving data off to tape and 1TB of backup capacity.

Pricing for a 2 TB D2D Professional solution, which includes the Nexsan RAID hardware and D2D Professional application, with a 50-client license, Bare metal support and all hot agents starts at $23,000.