Overview

Idealstor offers the most flexible backup solutions on the market by developing hardware and software that can be used together as a single solution or that can be used with any third party backup solutions that can backup to disk. Idealstor offers backup solutions that are designed to take advantage of the increasing capacity, reliability and functionality of hard drives. All Idealstor systems use disk like tape, not only as a target for backups, but as physically portable and offsite media. Idealstor is compatible with any backup software on the market that can backup to disk and is ideal for local backups and offsite storage.

In addition to hardware, Idealstor has developed Ibac Data Protection Software to take advantage of this unique method of backing up data. Ibac backs up data in native format and allows administrators to continuously backup data or run scheduled backups based on need or budget. Below is a brief introduction to the Idealstor line of backup solutions.

The Idealstor Backup Appliance is complete disk to disk backup solution that becomes the host for your backup software and the target for backup data. Idealstor provides the speed and reliability of disk coupled with the portability of tape. Idealstor uses any capaci-ty Serial ATA or IDE disk as backup media that can be physically removed and taken offsite for backup and offsite storage. Units range in capacity from 80-1000GB using the 1 Bay up to 8TB using our 8 Bay Backup Appliance. All units come installed with the Windows operating system and function as the media server and target for backup data. Connected to the network via GB Ethernet, our backup systems achieve average speeds of up to 2GB/minute and can perform multiple simultaneous backups. Because these systems run Windows, they can also become the target for replication and server failover in the event of disaster.

The FrankeNAS is a modification of the Idealstor Backup Appliance and combines the redundancy of RAID5 storage with the offsite capabilities of Idealstor ejectable disk backup. This system comes configured with 1 to 4 Idealstor Ejectable Bays and up to 6.5TB of RAID5 storage. Administrators no longer need to buy a server dedicated for storage and a separate backup system from two different vendors. The FrankeNAS is an all in one appliance for the most demanding environments and is priced for any size business.

Ibac 4.0 is a complete data protection solution designed for Windows servers and is optimized for databases and servers like Microsoft Exchange 2003 and SQL. Ibac is the first software of its kind to combine scheduled backup and restore with real time continuous backups allowing you, the administrator, to decide what level of protection your data needs.

Ibac backs up data in its native format and stores the data on any Idealstor backup solution or any Windows server. Once the initial backup has been created, Ibac allows the administrator to choose between continuous byte level backups or scheduled nightly backups that capture just the changed data since the previous backup was completed. Ibac gives you the ability to decide what level of protection your servers need all using one easy to use interface and always gives you a full backup.

Ibac is licensed on a per server basis and is designed to backup any Windows server, database or server in use. Ibac 4.0 has the following modules designed to completely protect your Windows servers:

Open Volume Snapshot (OVS) – OVS is designed to backup open files and databases like Microsoft Exchange and SQL. OVS is used with scheduled backups and protects the integrity of databases and open files by backing up the entire server even when files are in use. OVS is licensed on a per server basis and is recommended for servers like Exchange or SQL. OVS is our database and open file agent so you no longer need to purchase separate server specific licenses to backup these critical servers.

Backup Versioning Module (BVM) – BVM allows you to backup your data and save versions of the files that have changed between backups. BVM is used with Ibac for scheduled backups. Using BVM allows you to run a full backup in the time it takes to run an incremental backup and only takes up the space used by the files that have changed since the last backup. Once an initial backup has been created, BVM compares the current backup with the baseline. Any changed files get moved into a separate folder on the backup disk. Any unchanged files use pointers and will be linked to the original baseline backup. This makes it so the incremental backup folder looks like a full and acts like a full backup allowing administrators to restore and recovery files from any folder. BVM enables users to store large amounts of data on a single ejectable disk or server and saves on disk space by storing multiple full backups nearline.

Continuous Data Protection (CDP) – CDP is a module that is added to Ibac 4.0 and provides continuous byte level protection for Windows servers and databases. Similar to Ibac for scheduled backups, once an initial baseline backup has been created, CDP will replicate any byte level change as it happens from the source server to the backup server. In addition to replicating changes as they happen, Ibac CDP captures every single change or I/O and stores those changes in a log file. In the event of a corruption, administrators can open up the log file and restore to any point prior to when the corruption occurred. Rather than having to rely on last night’s backup or a finite number of snapshots, CDP allows you to restore to any point in time to get your data back. Ibac CDP provides the following additional functionality:

1. Bandwidth throttling to optimize WAN backups
2. System resource throttling to efficiently utilize available resources
3. Ability to replicate to ejectable disk and create snapshots to the removable media for offsite backups
4. Continuously backup Microsoft Exchange, SQL or any other database

Quick System Recovery (QSR) – Bare metal recovery is a fast way to get a server back on line after a complete failure. Ibac QSR provides administrators a bare bones version of the Windows Operating System on a CD Rom. In the event of a server crash, users need to simply insert the disk and turn on the server. The server will be able to boot up off of the QSR disk and provide enough functionality for the user to connect the server to the network and restore back all of the data using the last Ibac backup. QSR helps to eliminate downtime and cuts the time it takes to restore your server from a days to less than an hour.

Server Aliasing Module (SAM) – SAM provides high availability and server failover for any Windows Server or database and reduces downtime to a matter of seconds. SAM functions by keeping a connection between the backup server and the source server. In the event of server failure, administrators will be notified of the outage and given the ability to failover the downed server to the backup server that has a copy of the most recent Ibac backup job. In a matter of seconds, the backup server will start to broadcast the service principal name, IP address and functionality of the failed server and users will be up and running not realizing they are running of a secondary server. SAM is ideal for critical servers like Exchange and SQL or any other mission critical server.

Individually the components of Idealstor hardware and software solve many of the individual and specific needs of administrators everywhere. Combined they become a truly powerful backup solution that can virtually eliminate downtime and provide the ability to recover data from any point in time. Idealstor offers a complete solution but also the peace of mind that you can turn to one company for all your data protection needs.