Early Customer Review:
NetApp NearStore VTL
Beta system: NearStore VTL600
For the initial VTL test, the IT team chose the company's disaster recovery (DR) facility. The reasons were simple: the relatively low volume of tape backups allowed testing with a minimally configured appliance and it enabled the testing to take place in a production environment since tape backups represent the third and even fourth copy of critical information.
The VTL system was installed between a NetApp NearStore R150 and a Spectra Logic 20K tape library. The physical tape library remained connected to the VTL to allow testing of export functionality and restores from tape if needed.
Prior to putting the system into production, the beta user successfully tested:
- Backup and restore procedures (between the R150 and the NearStore VTL)
- Tape exporting (backing up from the R150 to VTL to physical tape)
- Tape importing (importing data from tape to VTL)
The VTL solution fully replaced the tape library for the duration (about four weeks) of the trial. During this time, our contact ran continuous backups from NearStore to VTL. Production runs involving several terabytes of data were backed up flawlessly and there was not a single VTL backup failure.
So what did this beta user think of the NearStore VTL solution?
| Installation/ Implementation |
Installation was remarkably simple. All I did to connect the NearStore VTL to the physical tape library and existing backup infrastructure was switch out a few cables. The VTL recognized all of the physical connections to the robot and installed everything automatically. It also integrated extremely well with VERITAS® NetBackup. Everything was self-configured, and no zoning was needed on the fabric.
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| Backup Performance |
We used the activity monitor in NetBackup to determine throughput speeds and kept a spreadsheet to track performance pre- and post-installation. Within minutes of plugging in the VTL—and without any kind of customization or performance testing—we saw a 4x to 5x throughput improvement.
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| System Reliability |
The NearStore VTL system ran fully unattended without a single failure for the duration of the trial. This immediately freed up a couple hours each day.
[Note: The IT team's current tape libraries have a 10 to 20% tape media failure.]
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| Management |
I flew to our DR facility for implementation and testing. I didn't have to fly back or call anyone on-site for the rest of the trial. There were no surprises, and I didn't have to learn anything new. It's like having a physical robot with the flexibility of configuring it remotely.
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| Features and Flexibility |
I like the fact I can write everything to VTL without worrying about different formats and then pick what I want to export to tape. Otherwise I would have to do separate VTL backups and then do a backup to tape. Also, I don't need a VTL in place to do the restore, which is important if we need to restore at other sites. Finally, the ability to reuse shelves in other NetApp systems is definitely helpful. We have a variety of other NetApp systems, and the ability to swap hardware makes this purchase easier to justify.
[Note: Because the NearStore VTL writes tapes in the native backup application format, a VTL system is not needed for restore]
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| Overall Evaluation |
Instead of spending money increasing tape and tape drives, a VTL provides more flexibility and room to grow. It has been very straightforward and easy, not something you need to have additional training to understand. For someone looking to enhance backup and recovery processes, I definitely think VTL might be an option.
The NetApp NearStore VTL solution is the first we've tested, and so far we're very happy with it. We have a history with NetApp products and professional services, so we have reason to be confident in their ability to deliver the best solution. We've done four major projects with NetApp. They have been very successful and NetApp has always been very prompt in resolving any issues we encountered.
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Based on the success of this trial, the team has ordered additional shelves and shipped the NearStore VTL system to its production site for a phase II evaluation. The team is "very keen" to increase capacity and conduct additional performance testing to see the full benefits of NearStore self-tuning technology.
What's next?
"We would like to remove the physical robot completely in our DR facility. For our production site we won't ever be able to remove the physical robot because we'll always need tape for long-term retention. We can add VTL to the environment, though, and it would be ideal to write anything [with a retention policy] under one year to VTL instead of tape. What would make this really cool is to add indexing and search capabilities. Using VTL for archival with an ILM solution to do the indexing and search and archiving would be the way to go."
