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Click a link below for more on how our NAS device works to
protect your valuable information:
What It
Does & How It Works
Protect Valuable Informational Assets & Keep
Downtime To A Minimum
NAS vs.
Tape
What
Happens If My Server Crashes?
Recovery After A Catastrophe
Off-Site Storage Facility
The
Technology At Work To Keep Your Systems Working
Key
Components of the Device's Technology
 With its fast virtualization capabilities,
our NAS device can be configured to function as
a replacement server if needed. This unique
device also can replace management intensive,
error-prone tape backups while providing much
more…starting with peace of mind. This new
NAS-based technology performs at the block level
where the actual digital 1s and 0s are captured
from the hard drive, essentially eliminating
failures related to open files. Because
block-level data is raw information that’s
independent of file structure formatting, it’s
the most efficient way to write to a disk. | back to
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Protect Valuable Informational Assets & Keep
Downtime To A Minimum
Our NAS device is a comprehensive Backup and
Disaster Recovery solution (BDR) for Windows
2000 and Windows 2003 servers. This reasonably
priced, all-encompassing solution for
small-to-midsize businesses provides:
-
Very frequent backups (as
frequent as every 15 minutes) with an onsite
NAS Device
-
Optional off-site data
storage at highly rated data centers
-
The ability to restore
downed servers in less than 30 minutes!
-
Advanced restoration options
(file- and folder-levels) with Exchange
message and mailbox recovery
-
Bare-metal restorations to
dissimilar hardware
- Low cost
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Though tape backup is common, it’s far from
being an ideal BDR solution. Analysts have said
that over half of tape backups fail, so chances
are that if you need to restore from tape,
you’ll be out of luck. But assuming all goes
well with tape backup, how does it compare with
the NAS appliance?
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TAPE
vs. NAS |
|
| BACKUP WINDOW |
A significant backup window is
required to complete a full backup -
time lost for access to vital systems. |
There is no backup window... your
critical business systems remain up and
running. |
|
| RECOVERY POINT |
Systems are typically backed up
every 24 hours. Are you ready to lose a
day's worth of work? |
Data snapshots take place every 15
minutes ...about the same length of time
as a coffee break. |
|
| RECOVERY TIME |
There's nothing automatic about
restoring with tape. The process is
time-consuming and labor intensive. |
Recovery is as simple as pushing a
few buttons (or clicking a mouse).
Systems are restored in less than a half
hour. |
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Now let’s look at how our solution keeps your
business running if, for instance, an e-mail
server goes down.
Because the device takes snap shots every 15
minutes, administrators can choose a point in
time shortly before the problem occurred and
with just a few clicks of the mouse, this
appliance allows you to activate it as a virtual
server to keep business processes up and running
while we diagnose the problem and plan a course
of action for the down email server.
In the event of a catastrophic server failure,
our business continuity solution also includes a
boot CD that allows us to perform a bare metal
restore on new hardware in a fraction of the
time of a typical server rebuild. And, this NAS
device restoration will allow you to eliminate
the hardware abstraction layer during the
restore process so that the new drivers can be
loaded on the server replacement, no matter
which server brand is used — giving you speedy
recovery options in times of crisis. | back to
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If a disaster results in your end-client
losing their entire office — servers and on-site
NAS included — you order a newly imaged NAS with
the most current backup-normally the last daily
that was done, to be shipped out via next
business-day air transportation to a location of
your choice. If such an event occurs, we will
not host the data at the co-location facility.
Depending on the NAS model used, multiple
servers can be virtualized on one NAS even as
the NAS continues to perform backups of other
servers.
When the NAS arrives, all you need to do is plug
in a patch cable and you’re up and running. This
recovery service will allow you to use the NAS
for two weeks before it must be returned or
purchased. This timeframe should allow you to
get a new server ordered, in place and do a
bare-metal restore from the NAS before returning
the NAS. Alternatively, you can choose to keep
the NAS and you will be billed for the list
price of the new NAS. This would also allow you
to use this NAS for the ongoing backups when you
move forward, re-establishing the network for
your client. | back to
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For additional protection in the event of a
complete disaster, data is securely transferred
to an off-site co-location facility on a daily
basis. Then, in event of such an occurrence, you
will receive a new NAS device imaged with your
latest data. The storage facilities are two XO
high-availability data centers in Phoenix and
Baltimore. They provide:
- Backup images stored at the data centers
on a Storage Area Network (SAN) at the
primary facility, then replicated to the
secondary facility
- Connectivity provided by multiple
providers with automatic failover
capabilities
- Facilities provide two fiber optic
network drops for our backbone
- Full physical security at each facility
including security cameras and key card
access
- Network is secured with high-end
redundant, automatic failover firewalls
- Fire suppression and environmental
control provided
- Automatic back-up power provided with
on-site generators
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The Technology
At Work To Keep Your Systems Working
The NAS device can be configured to backup
multiple Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 servers
by partition or by logical drives. There are no
file or folder-level exclusions, because a
snapshot of the entire partition is taken at the
block level on the hard drive.
Also, database applications such as Microsoft
SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange Server
transfer data in blocks without having to worry
if files are open or if they are in use.
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Base Image - The first backup taken of
a server is the base image — an exact copy of
the currently used space on the server. The base
image is taken for each volume (or partition) on
the server. Once the base image is set all
future backups are incrementals.
Remote Storage and Base Remote Backup Image
Creation - Your data is stored (in encrypted
form) in two secure online data backup centers,
located hundreds of miles apart from each other.
The BASE IMAGE will be sent via a SATA II drive
to the primary remote storage facility. There is
generally a three-week turnaround time required
for this base image transfer to occur.
Incremental back ups will occur in the meantime
and they will collapse into the base image when
the transfer is complete.
Incrementals - Incrementals take place at
the frequency that you schedule. If you select
24/7 backups at 15 minute incrementals 96
incremental files will be created each day. If
you selected one-hour incrementals, 24
incremental files will be created each day.
Incremental Forever Methodology
-Incremental Forever Methodology differs from
regular incrementals in that only one full
backup or base image is required. This greatly
reduces the time it takes to perform subsequent
backups as each incremental takes only seconds
to complete.
Synthetic Incrementals - Incremental
files are collapsed into synthetic incrementals
(basically one larger incremental file). This is
done to ensure chain integrity and to speed up
restorations. The fewer hops from the current
point-in-time back to the base image, the faster
your restoration will be.
Recovery Options - Recovering files and
folders is a simple process where the entire
image is mounted as a volume on the NAS device.
The encryption is needed. Files can then be
copied to the destination server over the
network. We also provide utilities enabling your
engineers to restore files, folders, Exchange
mailboxes or messages and SQL tables and
databases.
Virtualization (Physical to Virtual) Standby
Server Functionality - The NAS device can
“virtualize” failed servers while keeping the
system in the same state as it was before the
problem arose. No configurations are necessary.
Once virtualized, the NAS will resume the backup
schedule that was in effect before the failure.
Bare Metal Restore (Virtual to Physical)
- When it comes time to restore the virtualized
server back to physical hardware, our bare metal
restore process allows restorations to
dissimilar hardware.
On-site and Off-site Solution with Multiple
Restore Points - Multiple NAS devices can be
placed on a LAN. Each NAS device, depending on
the model, can be configured to backup one
single server or multiple servers.
Everything comes together in our NAS device to
produce 15-minute incremental snapshots that
safely reside within the device and are ready to
be used to restore a file, a file folder, an
email, or a database… all within five minutes.
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