Untitled Document
VAULTING AMBITION
From STORAGE Magazine
Vol 5 No 01 - January/February 2005
CommVault has made significant strides forward in the lifecycyle data
management stakes with the launch of its second-generation QiNetix unified data
management software suite. Editor Brian Wall takes a close-up look
The next-generation launch of CommVault’s QiNetix unified data management
software suite gives customer’s IT department the means to place data on the
optimum storage medium, crucially matching cost, access and recoverability to
service level requirements. The suite is built on a common technology platform,
eliminating the need for users to build and maintain multiple back-end
repositories to manage data access and availability for different business
needs.
This major release has robust capabilities to help customers recover data faster
in complex, heterogeneous networked storage environments, as well as to automate
lifecycle policy operations by the intelligent co-operation of different QiNetix
modules.
According to Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy
Group, “the new and enhanced features … give users the functionality they need
today - improving the quality and speed of data recovery, simplifying backup,
while taking full advantage of solutions like disk-based backup."
The company currently has more than 2,000 customers with QiNetix products
installed at 2,800-plus sites. The QiNetix suite includes backup/recovery,
replication, automated data migration, archiving, storage resource management
and service level management features. From a single console, the suite
components share automated policy management and common job and event managers
on the front-end, and distributed metadata indexes, media management and copy
management on the back-end.
Customers will likely to benefit in two key areas in particular: faster recovery
and smarter management of tiered storage environments.
Faster Recovery
QiNetix enhances capabilities to speed recovery time, from individual files to
full applications, and provides unified views of protected data. It integrates
several technologies to recover data as quickly as needed. With the new and
expanded offerings, QiNetix customers can:
Easily integrate snapshot replication functions with traditional backup
processes – Recovery Director is a new feature, providing a user-friendly
interface to simplify administration of data protection operations, integrating
snapshots and replication technologies to create higher availability and faster
recoverability of critical data. From a single view, customers can automatically
sequence several activities through one policy manager.
Integrate seamlessly with emerging disk-based recovery technologies – the second
generation of QiNetix continues CommVault’s leadership in seamless integration
with its partners’ advanced data protection technologies, including Network
Appliance’s SnapVault for faster protection of vital data on filers and open
systems. Also included is support for Hitachi Data Systems’ copy technologies
for open systems and Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for high
performance protection of Windows data in heterogeneous hardware environments.
Quickly restore an entire system – 1-Touch Restore is a new option, allowing the
user quickly and easily to recover an entire server (data, operating system and
system files) simply by inserting a CD which automatically links to information
kept in the QiNetix database.
Increase reliability across enterprise platforms – another new feature,
Readiness Check, performs a pre-operation check of all components in the data
path prior to job execution to assure completion of critical data movement
applications.
Gain resilient network connectivity – new features help ensure continuous
operation, even across wide area network connections.
Smarter Tiered Storage Management
With added functionality in QiNetix, customers can manage data more efficiently
and cost-effectively throughout its lifecycle. Archiving for compliance and
capacity management advantages help QiNetix customers:
Meet compliance strategies and protect personal archive files – New features in
the QiNetix DataArchiver product include advanced content indexing and search
features critical for full compliance as well as automated re-migration and
indexing of personal archive files (such as Microsoft Exchange PST files). Other
DataArchiver enhancements include faster performance and full support for NetApp
NearStore with SnapLock to deliver on SEC compliant WORM-storage and content
addressable storage devices, including EMC Centera.
Use policies to manage capacity – The QiNetix DataMigrator product upgrades
include automated data migration support for NAS filers. Another important
enhancement allowing customers to automatically start migration jobs based on
SRM findings.
Create, manage and synchronise data copies with multiple retention requirements
– The QiNetix common technology approach simplifies the task of managing
multiple copies of data, presenting a single view of backup, disaster recovery,
snapshot and archived copies. Data copies can be transparently migrated through
a tiered storage environment via policies to satisfy retention and availability
requirements at the lowest possible cost.
Conduct advanced analysis, reporting and trending across the QiNetix platform –
included in this release are expanded reporting and alerting mechanisms to give
the customer a detailed view across all their data management operations. This
includes a storage cost analysis feature to assist customers in ensuring data is
appropriately stored according to its business value.
“Keeping data synchronised between backup, archival and snapshot copies is key
to providing a comprehensive data management solution,” said Bill North,
research director of storage software, International Data Corporation (IDC).
“CommVault’s QiNetix provides single console, integrated management of such
multiple copies, potentially reducing both the complexity and cost of managing a
tiered storage environment. By automating data movement and migration, and by
providing content indexing of archived data, QiNetix can bring its customers
several steps closer to a true data lifecycle management solution.”
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