V2i Simplifies Disk Backup

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PowerQuest Corp.s v2i Protector 2.0 gives IT managers a simple yet effective tool for disk-to-disk backup of servers and desktops.

Downtime is one of the most important statistics in evaluating IT performance, and disk-to-disk backup solutions such as V2i Protector 2.0 can help IT managers back up and restore data far faster than is possible using standard tape technology.

In tests at eWEEK Labs, we liked the simplicity of the V2i Protector 2.0 software, which shipped last month. V2i Protector 2.0, priced at $995 per server and $79 per workstation, is an interesting solution for protecting low- and midrange file servers, document servers and possibly e-mail servers. V2i Protector 2.0 could also be useful to IT managers looking to implement blade servers and to quickly expand server farms.

However, because the technology in V2i Protector 2.0 is snapshot-based, it does not provide continuous data protection. We therefore would not recommend V2i Protector 2.0 for protecting transaction-intensive, mission-critical databases. Systems built on transaction logging, such as Storage Technology Corp.s EchoView, would be better for these businesses.

V2i Protector 2.0 has basic full and incremental backup capabilities (its predecessor, V2i Protector 1.0, couldnt do incremental backups). This enables it to take accurate snapshots of data.

We believe V2i Protector 2.0s snapshot capabilities are unique in the low end and desktop level of IT, although they have been around for years in more elegant, high-end storage solutions such as EMC Corp.s SnapView.

IT managers who have already invested a large amount of resources on a backup and disaster recovery solution but want to add disk-to-disk backup capabilities, should also investigate products such as Alacritus Software Inc.s Securitus.

Securitus is a virtualization solution that makes hard drive RAID units look like tape libraries to backup software packages. Securitus enables IT staff to leverage the media management and reporting tools already included in their backup software, which makes Securitus an easy fit with most major backup systems.

V2i Protector 2.0 backs up disks by using PowerQuests SmartSector Imaging technology, which reads the File Allocation Table then makes images of the sectors that have data on them.

When creating the image, we were given a couple of compression options to make our image footprints smaller. Passwords can also be given to image files to make sure they are secure. Because the image is an exact duplicate of the initial disk, it is easy to restore a volume, and server rebuilds are fairly easy.

Once images are created, V2i Protector 2.0s backup image browser easily allowed us to mount images to get access to their data.

V2i Protector 2.0 can store backup images on local hard drives or on optical drives such as DVDs and CDs. It is also possible to run the image backups to network drives.

V2i Protector 2.0s wizard-driven management console is easy to navigate.

Senior Analyst Henry Baltazar can be reached at henry_baltazar@ziffdavis.com.