IBM FastBack for Storwize V7000 provides a cost-effective disaster recovery solution over standard IP-based networks (LAN, WAN, Internet, etc.) for Microsoft® Windows and Linux® server application data. It leverages many of the advanced continuous data protection and near-instant recovery capabilities of Tivoli® Storage Manager FastBack, while being priced and packaged for the IBM Storwize V7000 midrange storage system.
IBM FastBack for Storwize V7000 delivers a cost-effective data protection and disaster recovery offering for small and mid-sized organizations. It combines a number of leading-edge, patented technologies to deliver a data protection and recovery offering for servers and applications by helping to:
o Eliminate the need for traditional backup windows by continuously tracking data changes at the block level, with extremely low overhead on the systems it protects
o Improve recovery service levels and meet stringent data protection and retention requirements through use of a flexible policy engine
IBM FastBack for Storwize V7000 can enable protection, replication, and recovery of data for critical applications, including IBM DB2, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, SAP, and Oracle. It delivers the power to quickly help recover any Microsoft Windows, or Linux server data, from anywhere in the organization and any point in time.
IBM FastBack for Storwize V7000 can store all of the data onto the IBM Storwize V7000 and can replicate that data to an offsite location to another FastBack for Storwize V7000 system, or to a Tivoli Storage Manager Server, for disaster recovery purposes. In addition, IBM FastBack for Storwize V7000 V6.1 can be utilized to help protect production data that resides outside of the IBM Storwize V7000.
http://www.ibm.com/systems/storage/disk/storwize_v7000/fastback
mccleld
/ March 13, 2011Good breakdown of the software – however, can you tell me if there is any actual integration between TSM FastBack and the Storwize V7000 array, or is this just the vanilla TSM FastBack product that IBM are now selling alongside (‘in the same box as’) the V7000?
Thanks,
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David Mc
London, UK
rogerluethy
/ March 14, 2011Hi David
Thank you. I’m not the TSM FastBack Specialist, but yes there is a integration
into the V7000. FastBack for V7000 allows Volume Replication via IP.More information is available here ->
http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/0/897/ENUS211-030/ENUS211-030.PDF
Cheers
Roger
mccleld
/ March 14, 2011Hi Roger – thanks for getting back to me.
As it happens, I do work with TSM FastBack which is why I asked as I’m a little confused about exactly what IBM are announcing/selling here. You see TSM FastBack offers this same volume replication via IP natively and indeed all of the features mentioned in the PDF above as far as I can tell.
Looking up the FastBack for Storwize V7000 product on IBM.com (i.e., http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/disk/storwize_v7000/fastback/) and clicking through to any of the deeper links (e.g., product support, library etc) takes you to the same TSM FastBack pages/documentation.
So, there appears to be no difference whatsoever between the TSM FastBack product and FastBack for Storwize V7000 – it is just a case of changing the label on the box.
As it happens, FastBack is a great product – however, it’s nothing more than a piece of SME backup and recovery software (from FilesX, a company IBM bought in 2008), a little cousin to the full-blown enterprise class core TSM software. I do use FastBack to replicate a customer’s backup data between locations but it’s all host-driven – there’s no integration with a disk subsystem, and the IP replication is simply an integrated FTP client (I kid you not – or SFTP if you can get the firewall ports open) to another FastBack or TSM Server in the DR location. This backup data would then need to be restored using the backup software (either FastBack or TSM) – yes, it’s replication, but perhaps it’s not quite as many will envisage from reading the glossy literature.
If there’s something I’ve missed – some additional piece of integration that I’ve not spotted that IBM have added – then do let me know and I’ll gladly swallow my words.
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David McClelland
London, UK
Bernard.T
/ June 22, 2011I second David’s comments, its just IBM Fastback piggy backing off the current “buzz” around the V7000. Nice try IBM.