Synergy of components
This solution uses proven, customer-accepted, fault-tolerant technology with the option to add
additional system and data reliability. There is no new technology to learn; it has the look and feel of
primary storage.
Implementing a mezzanine backup-restore solution adds flexibility and performance to an existing
data protection system. Using this solution in concert with existing backup tools, high-priority data can
be backed up and later restored without having to wait on tape mounts. In addition, the new backup
resources made available allow existing backup resources to support greater demands for storage
and speed.
Tape libraries continue to play a vital role by providing data archiving and retention capabilities.
These capabilities are critical to meet the growing requirements businesses face for retaining business
information. They also play an essential role in disaster recovery and in making systems disaster
tolerant.
Table 1 describes three scenarios to better meet data protection requirements when using mezzanine
storage.
Table 8. Scenarios for the mezzanine backup-restore solution
Scenario description
Backup window impact
Restore time impact
Best used for
Notes
Full and incremental
backups to
MSA1500; offline
backup to tape
Backup window
reduced as additional
backup resources are
available
Improved reliability from
RAID-protected storage
Instant access for
single file restores
Operations with
a fixed backup
window requiring
all applications to
be backed up at
one time
Business-critical
data with zero
tolerance for tape
error handling
More efficient use of
backup window
Tape resources can
be used more hours
per day
Weekly full backup
to tape, daily
incremental backups
to MSA1500
Backup window
reduced as additional
backup resources are
available
More frequent backup
for frequently changing
data, without changing
media
Instant access for
single file restores
Improved reliability
from RAID-protected
storage
Large sets of data
requiring frequent
file restores
Less administration
required for frequent
incremental backups
Large backup
window needed for
weekly full backups
to tape
Full and incremental
backups to
MSA1500
(not recommended
for a full data
protection solution)
Multi-stream host
backups to disk reduce
the backup window
Instant access for full
or file restores
Improved reliability
from RAID-protected
storage
Business requires
high data
reliability and
instant data
recovery over
short periods of
time
Requirement of
additional processes
for disaster recovery
and any required
data archiving or
retention
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