Unitrends DPU Solution Provides Fast Backup

Unitrends Software Corp.s Unitrends Data Protection Unit 2000 is a complete disk-based backup solution that should be a good fit in most small and midsize businesses.

The Linux-based DPU 2000, which bundles backup hardware and software in one package, is an attractive option for smaller enterprises that need high-speed backup capabilities and havent already made a substantial investment in another backup platform.

Click here for eWEEK Labs sample RFP for backup solutions.

The 2U (3.5-inch) DPU 2000, which is available now, can store as much as 2TB of data in a single appliance. Our test unit, which came with 1TB of capacity, retails for an affordable $9,999 and was updated earlier this month.

One of the reasons the DPU 2000 will be appealing for SMBs is because no additional client license fees must be tacked on to the price of the unit. This should make the DPU 2000 an especially welcome addition for companies that have many clients but do not produce a lot of data.

eWEEK Labs applauds Unitrends simplified pricing scheme because we believe its unfair for backup vendors to charge SMBs by the client when the vendor is already making a profit on the hardware side. We hope more vendors follow Unitrends example in the future.

The Unitrends appliance provides a very wide range of client support, which includes Microsoft Corp.s Windows, Linux, BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution), The SCO Group Inc.s UnixWare, Novell Inc.s NetWare, Sun Microsystems Inc.s Solaris and other varieties of Unix. This level of interoperability is something often not seen in the low-end-to-midrange backup space.

In addition, the DPU 2000 comes with application backup agents for Microsofts Exchange and SQL Server—also without demanding additional license fees.

In tests, we found the DPU 2000 was easy to install and configure using Unitrends management GUI. A client-side software component must be installed, but, unfortunately, no client push capabilities are built in to speed delivery. This means IT managers will have to touch each client.

Once the client is installed, backup and restore jobs can be scheduled using either the client interface or the DPU 2000 management console. The solution can back up both client data and operating systems using bare-metal backup capabilities. The DPU 2000s snapshot functions allow it to back up open files as well.

Built-in RAID and redundant power supplies help keep the DPU 2000 up and running with few interruptions.

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