Network attached storage pioneer Network Appliance has rolled out
its latest storage server and software for backup and recovery in
local or distributed business environments.
The NearStore R100 is aimed at companies looking to consolidate
multiple backup systems, such as tape drives, into a single storage
unit, said Mark Santora, senior vice president of worldwide
marketing for Network Appliance.
The R100 is also ideal for companies with distributed, outlying
offices that require a reliable online backup system to centralise
backed-up data, ensuring greater business continuance, Santora
said.
Offered with hefty storage capacities of 12TB, 24TB, 48TB, or 96TB,
the R100 drops in to most commonly used business computing
infrastructure with little or no modification.
"I can take this product and go into a 100% non-Network Appliance
shop and take any vendor's product that has a spinning disk and I
can probably interface with it," Santora said.
At any available storage capacity, the R100 only costs about 4
cents per megabyte of storage. Only tape backup systems are less
expensive per megabyte, but the R100 has the advantage of faster
data retrieval as it is a disk-based system and free from the
inherent latency of tape storage systems, Santora said.
New software called SnapVault, SnapMirror, and SnapRestore also
rolled out Monday from Network Appliance.
SnapVault is an online backup tool that assists in backing up
remote servers and clients to the R100. Automated routines
eliminate the possibility of having a remote office worker forget
to back up data, Santora said.
"SnapVault takes all the remote information and does a one-way
mirror back to the R-100. So you don't need a tape drive in every
office, you just need the R100 and SnapVault to suck the data all
back to corporate headquarters over an IP network," Santora
said.
SnapMirror software helps storage administrators select certain,
specific mission-critical data to be backed up incrementally, as
changes to the data are made. This reduces both the amount of
overall data being backed as well as network bandwidth requirements
for the backup.
SnapRestore reduced recovery time in the event of a system failure
by recovering individual files instead of complete files systems,
according to Network Appliance.
Additionally, new data management software from Network Appliance
called MultiStore allows administrators to partition the R100 into
specific domains assigned to different business departments or
operating platforms, Santora said.
"MultiStore gives you the capability to cut the R100 up and
dedicate certain pipes and certain domains to certain departments,"
Santora said. "You can have 20 different Windows NT and Unix
domains on one filer."
One of the early innovators and leaders in NAS storage, Network
Appliance has taken advantage of recent advances in NAS technology
and recast itself as more of a storage technology provider for the
enterprise.
"We have made the turn from a technology evangelist company to an
enterprise business solutions company," Santora said.
Don Young, an industry analyst with investment firm UBS Warburg LLC
in New York, agrees that competitive advantages, such as price and
continued investment in NAS research and product development,
position Network Appliance to make headway into the enterprise
storage market.
"We still think Network Appliance is the best-positioned company in
the enterprise storage space," Young said.
Other experts believe that the commoditisation of NAS products by
companies such as Dell and Compaq and a perception that NAS
products are less than mission-critical devices could apply drag to
Network Appliance's efforts.