EqualLogic Corp. announced it has added a new feature to its array
software that it's calling SmartCopy, consisting of an instance of
its Automated Snapshot Manager that can be run on a Windows host
and lets users manage snapshot
backup and
data replication at the host level.
It's a feature very similar to Network Appliance Inc.'s (NetApp)
SnapManager and EMC Corp.'s Replication Manager software, which
allows users to set up snapshot backups from the application host
and in that host's idiom, i.e., telling the underlying storage area
network (SAN) to take snapshots of "this database" rather than
"this set of LUNs or volumes."
According to Eric Schott, director of product management for
EqualLogic, the feature is intended to circumvent the common
snapshot data backup pitfall of forgetting to include new LUNs or
volumes in snapshot and data replication schedules.
"It determines what storage volumes your SQL database, for
example, is using and the SAN does the rest," he said. "It allows
the admin to 'drive' it from the server, which is easier for most
IT staff to understand."
The product uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to
access write capabilities from the server, but the EqualLogic
software remains a separate interface, Schott said. The integration
with VSS also takes Microsoft's capabilities a step further, he
said, because VSS does not natively include cloning and data
replication. So far the feature is Windows only.
One EqualLogic user, Jason Skeffington, manager of network
services for GHS Data Management in Augusta, Maine, said he's
testing the feature and plans to roll it out at his company over
the next month or so.
"It's sparked my imagination for different use cases,"
Skeffington said. One place he said he'd use the feature is to give
SQL DBAs at his company their own access to snapshot backups and
snapshot schedules for creating test and development images.
Of course, points out Forrester Research Inc. senior analyst
Stephanie Balaouras, not everyone will have quite such a cozy
relationship between server and storage administrators in their
environment. "DBAs also often like to use their own tools that are
tightly integrated with the database, like Oracle FlashPoint and
Oracle RMAN," she said.
Skeffington, however, had an answer for that. "The best thing
about it is they added this GUI, but they left command-line
interface access in there, as well," Skeffington said, which means
he will be able to create custom views of the SmartCopy application
through Web portals using scripts.
Another area of possibility Skeffington said he's seeing for
this feature is the ability to improve service levels for his
customers by running remote scripts to the SmartCopy feature in
order to perform automatic or scheduled restores of servers.
The new SmartCopy feature is currently in beta, and will be
generally available later this quarter free of charge to EqualLogic
users.