Sony Introduces PetaApp Serverless Backup System

Sony Electronics today introduced the PetaApp system for data backup, a pre-configured and pre-tested solution that provides the fastest backup speeds on the market by integrating Sony hardware and software into a total packaged solution.

Based on Sony’s PetaBack software and DTF-2. (Digital Tape Format) tape drives, which have the market’s fastest data transfer rate of 24 MB/s, the PetaApp system provides a near-custom designed solution to centrally back up data in Network-Attached Storage (NAS), Storage Area Network (SAN) and heterogeneous storage environments. This packaged solution can eliminate downtime and freezes normally associated with data backup windows in networked environments by enabling serverless backup, and delivers improved cost performance, customized backup size and quick delivery to customers.

Customized to meet the capacity requirements of virtually any size enterprise, the PetaApp system comes pre-assembled with the Sony PetaSite Tape Library, DTF-2 tape drives, a Brocade SilkWorm. Fibre Channel fabric switch and PetaBack software. The complete system readily attaches to an enterprise network via a SCSI or Fibre Channel connection.

The DTF-2 drives at the heart of this system achieve a sustained, native transfer rate of 24 MB/s, the fastest data transmission rate in the industry. By combining high-speed backup with Brocade SAN infrastructure, the PetaApp system allows direct access to the automated PetaSite tape storage library without the data bottlenecks that can impede Local Area Network (LAN) backups.

“The Sony PetaApp system is particularly designed to optimize the time it takes to read data from disk and copy it to tape and vice versa,” said Tom Yuhas, director of data systems solutions for Sony Electronics’ Business Solutions & Systems Company. “It provides enterprises and rich media businesses with a one-stop solution that delivers some of the most powerful data back-up capabilities on the market.”

The new PetaApp system integrates the three factors that most affect data transfer rates – software architecture, hardware performance and network protocols and formats. By doing so, the PetaApp system eliminates the often confusing and time-consuming process of integrating hardware and software from different vendors, which can hinder an enterprise’s ability to quickly install a reliable backup solution.

“The Sony PetaApp system provides customers with an integrated storage solution,” said Robert Amatruda, research manager at International Data Corporation (IDC). “Reliability, performance and manageability are paramount for customers with heterogeneous SAN and NAS deployments.”

“Facing the task of storing, managing, administering, and providing access to an ever-increasing amount of critical data with limited resources, companies are implementing SANs to help them keep pace with data growth, while at the same time reducing the costs of their storage environments. We are pleased that Sony has standardized on Brocade as the intelligent storage networking platform to deliver optimized backup to enterprise and rich media companies,” said Jeffrey Brooks, Brocade Chief Marketing Officer.

Custom-Sized to Meet Diverse Storage Needs
The PetaApp system is a scalable system that can meet customers’ varying data backup needs. For example, a system configured with three DTF-2 tape drives in the PetaSite library can back up two terabytes (TBs) of data in eight hours. A larger configuration, with six DTF-2 drives, can back up six TBs in 12 hours. As IDC estimates the demand for enterprise storage is growing by 100 percent annually, it’s crucial that enterprises can easily expand their backup systems, a function enabled by a PetaApp system.

Sony’s DTF-2 Tape Drives
Sony’s second-generation DTF tape drives (DTF-2) provide a very quick 24MBs sustained I/O throughput and a data capacity of 200GB native, and in excess of 500GB compressed (with 2.6:1 compression). For easy installation in networked storage environments, DTF-2 drives feature both a Fibre Channel and Ultra-wide SCSI interface connection. This fast, non-compressed data rate also makes the PetaApp system an ideal choice for TV and multimedia production centers that require back up of digital audio and visual signals, such as MPEG and JPEG.