MERIT TS

• Back-up Consolidation
• The MERIT TS Solution
• Compelling Advantages of the Consolidated Approach
• Why MERIT TS

In most large organisations, data is currently distributed across multiple servers spread across departmental servers. Each server has its own direct attached backup tape device installed and critical and non-critical data is handled in the same way. In this situation, the organisation is totally reliant on the integrity of tape backups. But with the increasing complexity of the corporate IT environment, the trend is moving to enterprise backup consolidation, which has many advantages over the traditional distributed approach. The problems associated with distributed backup and storage: In any enterprise backup scenario, on-site and off-site copies need to be created and the reliability of the backups verified. With the distributed scenario, off-site backups will have to be physically transported to a remote location and stored. Distributed tape backups are cumbersome to control and manage, tapes are difficult to locate and retrieve when there is a need to recover data. It takes hours to restore the data, and there is a risk that the tape backups will not work. Because of advances in technology, multiple distributed departmental servers are often equipped with different tape backup devices with different tape formats, capacity and software, requiring different hardware and software skills. Compatibility problems also arise when a tape device fails, because it will need to be replaced with a similar device and software. Scalability of tape devices is another problem, because if the server's storage capacity is increased, additional, similar, devices will be required to back up the greater volume of data. With the distributed approach, backups have to be done outside working hours because of the risk of degrading the performance of the LAN and of the applications running on the server. At the same time, the after-hour backup window is under increasing pressure as data storage volumes increase. As a result of the lack of control and management of distributed storage, industry research shows that an estimated 10% of corporate data is not backed up and 40% of data is stored on the individual's workstations and is seldom backed up. Increasingly stringent legislation on the storage of data, coupled with corporate governance requirements are forcing companies to take a different approach to their backup and data recovery processes.

The ideal solution to these problems would be to create a secure, high speed storage network, to which all corporate servers are linked and where all corporate data is pooled into a central storage resource. This consolidated environment would provide 99.999% availability and data could be accessed from across the enterprise and backed up in a controlled and managed way. From a backup perspective, once all the data is pooled, it can be replicated to create an on-line, real-time, mirror image of the operational data, which is stored separately on the storage device. The mirrored data can then be taken off-line, at any time, and a point-in-time copy backed up to tape, which would ideally be stored in a single tape library resource that is attached to the storage network. Once the backup process is completed, the real-time status of the local mirrored data storage resource would be re-instated. Automatic synchronisation would then take place between the mirrored data and the operational storage pool, updating any changes that have happened in the interim. A further good option is to create a duplicate off-site business continuance environment, where a second mirror image of the data can be copied to disk and stored in a similar pooled resource. The off-site point-in-time copy of the local stored data would be copied across on-line, typically once in a 24-hour cycle or more regularly if required. In either case, the local and remote mirrored copies of the data would in turn be periodically backed up to tape and stored in the respective tape libraries. The MERIT TS solution would include a revamp of backup policies and procedures.

With the consolidated data storage and backup approach, in case of emergency, a company can switch over to the mirrored data, on-line, without going through the lengthy process of physically locating, transporting, and restoring from tape backups. Apart from the local real-time mirror of the operational data, there are three levels of point-in-time backups to resort to, these being the remote disk based copy and the local and remote tape library backups, which are all as current as the most recent backup cycle. The fact that local and remote tape backups are carried out independently from each other, creates an additional layer of reliability, which lowers risk, and increases efficiency. Additional tape devices can be added to the library as storage capacity needs increase, providing scalability, and tapes do not have to be physically transported to an off-site location. Tape backups are done centrally on the storage network without any impact on the LAN. Backup consolidation, also creates an opportunity for on-line data recovery and provides a platform on which to recover from system or software failures and human error. If there is a disaster, the storage and backup process can be relocated to the remote business continuance site and recovery effected from the last point of backup. By doing away with manual intervention and physical transport of tapes, staff resources can be more effectively utilised and the tedious administration of tape media can be automated using appropriate software. The new approach allows end of day disk-to-disk copies to be carried out on-line to the data recovery site, and tape copy verification can be carried out centrally at the main site and the remote site. Furthermore, there is no physical movement of tapes because the tapes are copied from the backup disk copy at the remote site.

The MERIT TS team will take a fresh look at a company's environment and identify areas of possible improvement and all findings would be documented. We would identify business and technology problems and work with the customer's IT department to solve existing problems and come up with a backup consolidation solution that will meet the current and future business requirements and budget. We will help the customer to source the right products and oversee the implementation of a solution. MERIT TS can also source, implement and maintain a total solution if required. The implementation would be done in the form of projects and sub-projects to ensure minimal disruption of the business. We will define the strategic scope of the project, draw up a user requirement specification and come up with a high-level design of the backup consolidation solution. Our team will carry out an audit of existing storage and backup processes and help implement improvements to ensure the continued integrity of data. Conversion from the old media to the new media can also be accommodated. As product independent consultants, we will assist with the procurement process, which would include analysing possible solutions and carrying out product comparisons on the customer's behalf, and we will assist with the tender documentation and adjudication. Our team has gathered a vast store of knowledge, expertise and experience from implementing this type of solution in many different complex enterprise environments and our methodology has a proven track record. The MERIT TS value proposition is low risk, because we define the deliverables of each project and sub-project beforehand in a documented form and we undertake to transfer the required skills and expertise to the customer's staff. We have had exposure to all the major storage network and backup product suppliers such as IBM, EMC, NetApp, HDS, HP, Adic, and Brocade, but at the same time we remain product neutral.We design and oversee the implementation of backup consolidation solutions for both the NT and Unix environments.