DisktoDisk Backup So Much Data So Little Timothy

Disk-to-Disk Backup So Much Data, So Little Timothy Antonowicz Senior Systems Engineer Bowdoin College Copyright 2007

• Backups are insurance policies • Difficulty justifying expenditures • Utilization rates are growing faster than technology refresh rates

Bowdoin’s Storage Services – Home Directories – Department common space – Research and Course specific stores – Digital archives – Multimedia – Enterprise storage (mail, db, app, etc)

Storage Breakdown • Tier-1: Enterprise – Net. App 3020 c – Net. App 820 (2) 8 TB (+8 TB) 3 TB each (EOL) • Tier-2: File Services – Net. App Near. Stor R 200 37 TB (+8 TB) • Tier-3: Digital Assets – Apple XSan 10 TB (+7 TB)

Backup Architecture, 2003+ • Legato Networker – Sun 220 R, dual Gigabit – NDMP backups from filers – Standard client backups • Storage. Tek L 80 – SDLT 220/320 drives (8) – SCSI connect, U 320 LVD – Backup rate at 10 -14 Mbps total

Problem Statement • Backups were taking too long • No flexibility in design • Limited growth potential “We needed to make a change in our backup design that would allow us to grow in conjunction with our data needs. ”

• VTL Disk-to-Disk Options – Falcon. Stor, Sepaton – Virtual “Jukebox” of drives and tapes on disk • NAS devices – Net. App, NEC Hydrastor, Exa. Grid – Stores backups in network file structure • Data. Domain – “Write Once, Increment Forever”

Deduplication • Eliminates redundant writes to the backup infrastructure by stubbing identical files • Offerings – VTL • Add on appliances, post backup – NAS • Native single instance available – Data. Domain • Native single instance built into device

Current Backup Infrastructure • Legato Networker – Same Sun 220 R, 4 Gig nics-Etherchannel – i. SCSI connected to VTL – U 320 LVD SCSI connect to Jukebox • Jukeboxes – Falcon. Stor VTL – Qual. Star TS-58132

Falcon. Stor VTL • Hardware – HP DL 380, 4 Gb nics, SUSE Linux • Connection – i. SCSI to Networker server and storage • Storage – Two NEXSAN 20 TB arrays • Capacity – 10 drives, 168 tapes

Qual. Star TS-58132 • 132 slots, expandable to 264 – Simple robotics – Ease of management • S-AIT media and drives – 500 GB raw capacity – Helical scan, rapid read/reposition • U 320 LVD SCSI connection – Onboard FC if needed

Current Methodology • Incremental Backups – Primarily to VTL – Backup rates at 30 -36 Mbps • Full Backups – Direct to tape – Backup rates at 24 -36 Mbps • Cloning – Can be done via VTL or Legato

Future Considerations • Deduplication – Falconstor, Legato, and/or Net. App • Networker upgrade – Increase backplane and performance • VTL upgrade – Increased VTL storage • FC upgrade – Possible for bandwidth considerations

• Questions Tim Antonowicz Senior Systems Engineer Bowdoin College tantonow@bowdoin. edu