|
By Kevin Komiega
September 26, 2007—ExaGrid Systems has upgraded its disk-based backup appliance by packing twice the performance, more network connections, and more storage capacity into a system that takes up half the space of previous models.
The new product, ExaGrid 3.0, is capable of supporting a 20TB full backup, plus retention, in a single system. Version 3.0 writes data directly to disk at a rate of up to 2.1 terabytes/hour with byte-level data de-duplication and can achieve restore throughput of up to 1.5 TB/hour, according to company officials.
The ExaGrid system scales in capacity, network ports, and processing power each time a new box is added. The company offers five models ranging in capacity from 1TB to 5TB.
The appliance also features several enhancements to the management interface as well as new backup reporting capabilities.
The system runs on standard hardware components and comprises Intel Dual-Core Xeon processors, Seagate's SATA drives, and ExaGrid's operating software. The software creates a virtual architecture that automatically configures new systems as they are added to the virtual pool and balances workloads across the available hardware.
ExaGrid takes the post-processing approach to data de-duplication. Marc Crespi, vice president of product management, says the system eliminates redundant data after the backup process is complete, thereby keeping the most recent backup in its whole form and resulting in faster access to data.
"Ninety percent of the time customers want to do a restore it's from the last backup. Applying de-dupe after the backup provides faster restore times," says Crespi.
ExaGrid 3.0 supports backup applications from most major vendors, including CA, CommVault, EMC, Microsoft, Symantec, and VMware.
Version 3.0 ships on every new ExaGrid backup system. The company is in the process of rolling out the new platform to existing customers at no additional cost beyond their standard maintenance contracts.
List pricing for ExaGrid's 3.0 backup systems starts at $19,900 for a 1TB configuration.
| 
Articles 
| View all PennWell sites | View all PennWell events
Add RSS Feed
