FalconStor Virtualizes the Virtual Tape

Corrected: August 2, 2006

by Alex Woodie

FalconStor Software recently unveiled new virtualization technology that it says will dramatically increase the capacity of virtual tape libraries (VTLs). The new Single Instance Repository (SIR) technology, as it's called, works by storing only the changed-data, thereby reducing storage requirements and increasing the number of recovery points available on the VTL. The company also recently unveiled support for continuous data protection (CDP) capabilities in its VTL offerings.

FalconStor has been selling its VTL solutions--including its IPStor software and its rack-mountable, Intel-powered VirtualTape Library appliance, which includes a copy of its IPStor Software--into the OS/400 server market since 2004, when the company added OS/400 as a supported option to the enterprise version of its VTL device. The IPStor and VTL solutions connect to the iSeries by emulating IBM disk or tape devices.

In June the Melville, New York, company unveiled its new SIR technology, which works with the company's VTL offerings or on a stand-alone basis, where it hooks into other vendors' VTLs or SAN arrays.

SIR includes the Redundant Data Elimination (RDE) Engine, which scans a user's virtual tape system for duplicate files, and then writes only the unique data into a newly formed repository, called the index tape (i-tape) or a "virtual" virtual tape. This i-tape is then stored into the VTL, where it occupies just a fraction of the data initially stored on the VTL.

When a user recovesr a piece of data, the SIR process turns to metadata stored on the i-tape that tells it where to look for the full record in an object repository. Because the SIR and RDE technologies add an extra layer of virtualization between the physical storage and a company's data, rebuilding and recovering files can take a tad longer, the company says.

Users benefit in several ways from SIR, including expanding the number of recovery points that can be kept on disk, the company says. "Whereas before SIR, only 30 days of recovery data might be able to fit on existing disk storage, now businesses can have the scalability to keep up to a year's worth of recovery points," FalconStor says. SIR also reduces the storage requirement for backup and archiving, and reducesnetwork bandwidth for remote VTL-based backups.

Prakash Babu, vice president of data protection for FalconStor, says the SIR technology provides business value by removing performance barriers to maintaining backup and archiving infrastructure. "Backup and archive data account for the vast majority of stored data in a typical enterprise, but the known limitations of tape storage prohibit fast access and recovery," he says.

Earlier this year, FalconStor unveiled a new continuous data protection (CDP) offering for use with its VTL. Many organizations are looking to augment their backup processes with CDP, which significantly reduces the recovery point objective (RPO) by taking nearly constant snapshots of users' data. The time to recovery, or recovery time objective (RTO), is also improved with CDP due to its capability to help a user find the most relevant data in a recovery situation. FalconStor says its CDP offering comes with a "visual slider" interface for this function.

FalconStor says its CDP offering supports a variety of applications and environments, including all major databases, plus Exchange, Notes and Domino, Linux, NetWare, and Windows operating systems.

SIR is available now and works with all FalconStor IPStor and VTL products. Pricing starts at $25,000 for the CDP option. FalconStor's VTL offerings start at $15,000, with iSeries compatible offerings starting above $50,000. For more information, see www.falconstor.com.

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This article has been corrected. SIR is not yet available, but should be by the end of the third quarter. IT Jungle regrets the error.