DataGuard R4 and T5R appliances are compatible with many cloud-storage APIs, including those from Amazon S3, Dropbox and OpenStack-based cloud providers.
Scalable-storage and data-security
company Imation Corp. (NYSE: IMN) introduced purpose-built backup appliances
designed to enable small and midsized businesses (SMBs) to safeguard their
information with multiple levels of data protection from a single backup
infrastructure. The DataGuard Model R4 and Model T5R appliances use hard
drives, removable RDX disk cartridges, replication and cloud storage to deliver
data protection for budget-conscious businesses. The appliances are available
through Imations network of channel partners.
Using DataGuard R4 or T5R
appliances, SMBs can replicate data to a second DataGuard appliance at another
site or to store off-site on RDX removable disks. DataGuard appliances also
integrate with existing backup and disaster recovery infrastructure, including
most backup applications. In addition, onsite copies are designed to enable
fast full restores to meet recovery-time objectives and off-site copies help
ensure quick disaster recovery.
Imations DataGuard
appliances are at the forefront of addressing the major concerns that SMBs have
about protecting their data, said Jerome Wendt, lead analyst and president at
storage analyst and consulting firm DCIG. By enabling users to take full
advantage of the backup infrastructure they currently have in place, Imation
provides a media-agnostic solution for users to solve their backup challenges
of today while acting as a bridge to protecting and storing their data in the
cloud tomorrow.
DataGuard R4 and T5R
appliances are compatible with many cloud-storage APIs, including those from
Amazon S3, Dropbox and OpenStack-based cloud providers. Once a cloud backup is
seeded by shuttling RDX cartridges, DataGuard supports remote backups, and SMBs
can automate protection since data backup to cloud storage is performed without
any human intervention once it is initially configured.
Cloud is very compelling,
but the initial data transfer to a cloud service encounters very real
limitationslarge amounts of data and limited bandwidth, said Ian Williams,
vice president of global marketing and product management at Imation. This
initial transferknown as cloud seedingcan take weeks over an Internet
connection, depending on the data footprint. Imations DataGuard appliances
eliminate this issue, as customers can physically transport an RDX cartridge to
a cloud provider for initial seeding, and integrated software manages periodic
checks to ensure the cloud backup is current.
Many SMBs are intrigued by
cloud computing and understand the cost and operational efficiencies that cloud
storage can deliver, but struggle to incorporate cloud into their existing
backup infrastructure, said Bill Schilling, director, scalable storage marketing,
Imation. Imations DataGuard solution offers a gateway to the cloud, enabling
SMBs to easily protect their valuable data.
The company also recently
launched Imation LTO Tape Libraries and also provides Imation InfiniVault
multi-tiered data-archive appliances and Imation RDX removable hard-disk
storage.
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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