DSI Tries Virtualized Backup and Recovery for Power Systems

Dynamic Solutions International, a company known for its line of virtual tape library (VTL) systems designed specifically for IBM i shops, just released virtualized backup and recovery software pre-built to handle deduplication, replication and encryption. It’s called DSI Restore and it’s implemented onto a VMware environment. DSI says it new backup and recovery virtual appliance is aimed at companies that find traditional cloud-based solutions cost prohibitive.

DSI considers the backup and recovery appliance on VMware as an opportunity for IBM i shops to save money compared to the cost of adding Linux/VIOS partitions to a separate Power Systems backup box, using storage on the primary disk arrays, and using cycles on the Power System. Plus the VMware environment would provide flexibility because of the backup and recovery value to any existing VMware environments.

DSI Restore is described as a “fortified” virtual storage appliance that provides the capability to build a replicated storage repository. It has the capability to scale from 2 TB to12 TB of deduplicated data and its features include replication, tape consolidation, and encryption.

Chris Bremer, CTO of DSI, says IBM Power customers looking to virtualize their data storage capabilities will find DSI Restore is “as simple as downloading code to your hypervisor, which can be hosted in a local data center then replicated to the cloud, or by utilizing two virtual appliances. We see this as just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making it fast and easy for small businesses to have access to fully virtual data backup and recovery.”

“Restore gives small to midsize operations the ability to eliminate hardware and physical space for storing hardware,” says Leo Salvaggio, DSI executive vice president. The software has the potential to adapt to any system, he says.

Restore’s backup and recovery process is based on data policies that allow organizations to incorporate their own cloud recovery system. Because of deduplication, dedicated disk space on a VMware box is reduced. For the non-technical readers, deduplication identifies unique data segments, compares those segments to data previously stored, and saves only the unique data. It then compresses the unique data, which reduces storage requirements.

It’s estimated that 25 percent of storage is virtualized today, but many believe all storage will be virtualized in the near future.

And although virtualization is considered too complicated by many IBM i shops in the small and midsize demographic, that perception is being overcome as more shops take a deeper interest, according to IBM i executives who say enhancements to PowerVM and VIOS have drawn more customers to virtualization.

“Utilizing proper backup methods is just as important as your storage solution when it comes to securing data,” Bremer wrote in an article for the credit union trade publication CU Today. “Backups should be performed automatically, on a dependable system. Many organizations backup data daily without ensuring everything is in proper order. Peace of mind does not come from backing up data; it comes from the reassurance that when your system fails you can easily recover important information that impacts aspects of your business operations.”

For additional details, see this DSI Restore spec sheet (pdf).

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