STORServer Unveils Backup Appliance for iSeries

by Alex Woodie

STORServer last week announced that its line of backup appliances are now able to manage backups and recoveries for iSeries clients. The company had previously supported 35 major operating systems, but was stymied when it came to the iSeries because of OS/400's IP facilities. With the introduction of Gigabit Ethernet on the iSeries, OS/400 customers can now use STORServer's all-in-one appliance, which the Colorado Springs, Colorado, company says substantially reduces downtime associated with backups and saves users money.

STORServer's backup appliance reduces downtime associated with data backup by copying data, via an IP-based Ethernet connection, from production machines to a bank of hard disks, instead of copying data to a direct-attached tape drive. The backup appliance still offers tape as an option for long-term storage and off-site archiving, but users are shielded from the slower data transfer rates associated with direct backups to tape (hence, the longer downtime) by performing the initial backups to a disk cache. Disk reads and writes data much faster than tape, but tape has traditionally been the most cost-effective way to perform backups because it's less expensive.

In recent years, however, the price of disk has been coming down, compared to the price of tape, and more companies have begun considering disk as a feasible backup medium, especially considering the growing cost of downtime as businesses move to 24/7 operations. STORServer, which was founded in 1994 as a reseller and service provider for Tivoli Storage Manager software, is one of many companies vying for a piece of this new market. Since 1997, when STORServer started selling its backup appliance in the Rocky Mountain region, the IBM business partner has expanded its network of backup appliance resellers nationwide.

STORServer's line of backup appliance devices brings together many of the essential elements required to perform data backups on a regular basis, and to restore the data in the event of an outage. The appliances feature a backup server that helps offload I/O from the primary server (the backup server is either an IBM Netfinity or a Hewlett-Packard ProLiant Intel-based server running Windows 2000 or a Power4-equipped pSeries running AIX); disk (through OEM agreements with disk manufacturers such as Nexsan Technologies); tape drives (AIT, LTO, or SuperDLT formats through OEM agreements with major manufacturers); and software (IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, preinstalled, provides the "brains" for backup appliance). OS/400 shops also need IBM's Backup, Recovery and Media Services utility installed on the AS/400 or iSeries as a prerequisite for backup appliance.

In previous years, STORServer had tested data transfers to backup appliances from OS/400 clients. However, the transfer speeds were so dismal that STORServer decided it could not reasonably offer OS/400 as an optional client platform for its appliance. The problem was OS/400's Ethernet capability, said John Pearring, STORServer president. "The IP software connection was not their [IBM's] forte," he said.

However, IBM has improved its IP facilities with more recent releases of OS/400, particularly the new Gigabit Ethernet capacity. "They've made some great strides in improving that," Pearring said. "The Gigabit capacity upgrade in the operating system allows multithreading in IP. It was a queue before. Everything had to wait for the thing in front of it. It was very ugly."

STORServer benchmark tests show that the iSeries' new IP multithreading capacity has greatly improved data transfer speeds to backup appliances. Previous data transfer speeds ranged from 2 to 6 GB per hour. With the new Gigabit Ethernet, the iSeries is able to transfer data to a backup appliance at the rate of 16 to 18 GB per hour. This is comparable to the 16 to 20 GB per hour data transfer times that STORServer has seen with most of its clients, Pearring said. "The AS/400 client was just not offering an acceptable performance before, and now it is," he said.

There are 27 different models in STORServer's backup appliance line, each offering different configurations of processors, disk, tape, form factors, software, and, of course, pricing, to suit customers' varying backup needs. At the low end is the $14,900 STORServer Model K500N, which features a single-processor Intel server, a single-disk drive (up to 122 GB), up to 2 AIT tape drives, and from 10 to 20 slots for tape cartridges. This appliance is designed to backup anywhere from 60 to 360 GB of data. In the middle of the pack is the STORServer Model V20000N, which starts at $55,900. It is rated for backups involving from 540 GB to 2.180 TB of data. This appliance is powered by a server with up to two Intel processors and can be configured with up to 338 GB of disk and anywhere from two to eight LTO or SDLT tape drives, with 60 to 120 tape slots. At the high end is the STORServer Model S30000N, which is rated for backup needs ranging from 900 GB to 11.6 TB. Pricing starts at $125,900. This appliance is powered by two or four Intel CPUs, it can hold up to 770 GB of disk space, it features anywhere from two to 16 AIT drives, and it has room for up to 640 8mm AIT cartridges.

In each case, STORServer says, the backup appliances offer the same benefits: full integration among the disk, tape, and backup software; automated execution of scheduled backups; and ease of installation and use. The company says the appliances can be installed and running within 15 minutes.

The backup appliances run Tivoli Storage Manager, which, Pearring said, is "transparent" to the administrator, who interacts with the appliance using a backup appliance "dashboard." The appliances support all the different operating systems that Tivoli Storage Manager supports as clients, including OS/400. To use a backup appliance with an OS/400 server, STORServer recommends using the Tivoli Storage Manager API for iSeries Version 4.2, for OS/400 V5R1 and V5R2. For companies using OS/400 V4R3, V4R4, or V4R5, the company recommends using the Tivoli Storage Manager API for iSeries Version 4.1 with PTF SF53289. Backup, Recovery and Media Services (BRMS) 4.3 or higher is also required.

"To ensure the successful installation of the BRMS software and the AS/400 API, a STORServer consultant will work directly with the customer during the installation and configuration," Pearring said. Late-model OS/400 servers, such as an i830, should have little problem connecting to a backup appliance. STORServer recommends having its engineering staff work with companies that want to connect to older server models, like an AS/400 Model 720. For more information, go to www.storserver.com.

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