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ATEMPO LIVE BACKUP 3.2From STORAGE Magazine Vol 8, Issue 06 - October 2008 All too often, network backup strategies focus primarily on protecting central servers, with data held on desktops and notebooks usually getting a lower priority or simply not being backed up at all. Atempo aims to remedy this, as its Live Backup software delivers a continuous data protection solution that specifically targets these groups of users. Live Backup employs a simple architecture, comprising a central backup server, plus Windows and Macintosh client utilities. It uses a number of techniques to reduce storage demands and network overheads. First, it eliminates file duplication by storing only one copy in a shared database, even if it exists on multiple clients. Mirroring provides continuous protection and uses incremental block level backup where it only transmits blocks of data that have changed, rather than the entire file. All traffic between server and client is securely encrypted and, as blocks are sent from the client to the server, these are also compressed. For testing, we deployed the central server on a Boston Supermicro dual 3GHz Xeon 5160 server, running Windows Server 2003 R2, and used clients running Windows XP SP2. Each system to be included in the Live Backup scenario requires an agent loaded locally, which can be deployed using a range of methods. One easy means is to email users the location of the Live Backup web server, so they can pull it down themselves. Groups make light work of managing clients and these can be created automatically when clients first contact the server. Each group has its own set of backup parameters that will be applied to all members and nested groups can inherit settings from the parent group. Backup parameters include options to back up the entire client, selected drives or folders that contain user documents, files to be excluded and the amount of storage space assigned to each client. We found client deployment simple enough and watched our test systems start up their first backups without any further intervention. In order to reduce unnecessary traffic, you should 'seed' the vault first by securing clients with a general data set that is representative of your network. Users will find the client easy enough to use, as it provides plenty of information on general backup activity. The restoration wizard is particularly useful and will allow businesses to extend a data recovery self-service to their users where they can view their secured data, and choose from files, folders and versions to restore. Security is good, as only the client that backed up the data can access it on the vault. Mobile workers can join the backup club, as the client maintains a local cache on each system. It backs up data while the user is disconnected from the main network and can also be used to restore files. As soon as they reconnect, the cache synchronises its contents with the vault. For slow WAN links, the client can be configured to use minimal network resources or left to manage these itself. Full system protection is also provided as the client takes checkpoints, or snapshots, allowing users to roll back their operating systems to a specific point in time and also recover entire hard disks. Bare metal recovery is also provided, as users can request a system image on bootable media from the administrator or recover directly from the Live Backup server. For client backup to work, it must be easy to manage and use, and Atempo succeeds admirably in both these areas. Live Backup is virtually transparent during normal operations, provides continuous data protection, plus valuable data and system recovery tools, and is priced right as well. Product: Live Backup 3.2 VERDICT: Live Backup is virtually transparent during normal operations, provides continuous data protection, plus |
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