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Avail Solutions LLCs Integrity 2.0 backup software offers flexible, multitiered storage management and dynamic resource tracking capabilities that can streamline data backup in small and midsize networks.
Click here to read the full review of Integrity 2.0.
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Avail Solutions LLCs Integrity 2.0 backup software offers flexible, multitiered storage management and dynamic resource tracking capabilities that can streamline data backup in small and midsize networks.
Version 2.0 gains more device support and better integration with backup appliances. Its dynamic resource allocation capabilities offer robust backup flexibility as well. However, its interface was a bit confusing in eWEEK Labs tests, and its storage module licensing could make it expensive for large distributed environments.
Integrity 2.0 shipped this week, priced at $395 for the Enterprise version, which we tested. Smaller organizations will likely find what they need in the $199 Integrity Basic Backup version, which supports a single hard disk and tape drive vault. Unlike other vendors, Avail does not charge client licensing fees.
Disk storage modules are priced at $189 per 100GB of storage, and tape module prices are based on media type supported, including VXA, AIT, DLT/SDLT and LTO. Integrity 2.0 also supports heterogeneous Windows, Linux and Unix environments.
Like other backup vendors, including BakBone Software Inc. and Computer Associates International Inc., Integrity 2.0 uses a client/server model to back up and recover data. Integritys hierarchical data protection scheme allows IT managers to store data using the multitiered storage devices of their choice. Each storage medium, whether server, NAS (network-attached storage) or tape library, can be an Integrity storage vault.
Integrity ably automated data backup and restoration tasks in our tests, regardless of whether data was from an on-site server or a remote media store. The storage vaults that Integrity 2.0 manages are not statically linked to the clients on the network. Instead, Integrity directs backup and recovery to a storage vault based on the performance and storage longevity needs of the data being protected.
Using Resource Location Modules, Integrity tracks the status and location of storage vaults and can dynamically allocate the best storage vault for each task.
We tested Integrity 2.0 preinstalled on a Fastora NAS-104 appliance from Axiomtek Co. Ltd. We tested Integritys tape backup capabilities using a VXA-2 PacketLoader tape autoloader from Exabyte Corp. The Fastora NAS used ATA drives, and the Exabyte VXA-2 PacketLoader was directly attached via Ultra 160 SCSI.
Integrity uses different interfaces for different tasks, which can be a little confusing. Vault Administrator provides a birds-eye view of the storage vaults found on the network and allowed us to manage or create media stores. Separate interfaces run backup and restore jobs, and Global Traffic Monitor provides real-time statistics during data backups or recoveries.
A Migration Scheduler is used for replicating or migrating data between tape storage vaults.
Technical Analyst Francis Chu can be reached at [email protected].