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Dell Replay Manager needed with Actifio or Veeam ?
I am not very familiar with SAN storage. The company I work for is evaluating a backup solution that will utilize two Dell Compellents. We currently have one Compellent, but are considering purchasing another for a warm site. The quote for the second Compellent includes two instances of Dell Replay Manager. My understanding is that Dell Replay Manager can be used to take snapshots, which is understandably a good idea. We are also evaluating Actifio and Veeam as backup solutions. The Dell Replay Manager is pretty expensive and I am wondering if it is even needed if we will be using Veeam or Actifio for a backup solution.
Could anyone offer any insight as to why, or why we would not, want to eliminate the Dell Replay Manager from our purchase IF we proceed with a true backup solution (Veeam or Actifio) ?
Or, would it be better to ditch the Veeam/Actifio and use Dell Replay Manager?
Thanks!
brylan
1 Message
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September 3rd, 2014 21:00
You wouldn't need Replay Manager if you go with the Actifio solution.
Actifio captures data from the production environment incrementally forever and creates virtual copies for multiple use cases (data protection, disaster recovery, dev/test, etc). This architecture combines the fast data capture of a snapshot with the redundancy of a true, application consistent backup.
Replay Manager uses Compellent snapshots to capture data, which work fine but use up space on the storage array and they don't provide a redundant copy of the data. It also comes as an incremental cost and is another tool you have to manage. Actifio's solution can provide snapshots, backups, and replication services through a single user interface without storing copy data on the production storage array (Copy Data Virtualization).
Some of the key benefits of using Actifio in your scenario would be:
- Copy data would not be stored on the production Compellent array. Storage array snapshots use your production storage capacity to store the point in time copies. Actifio's design is to remove the copies from your production array(s) and eliminate point tools for backup, snapshots, replication, etc.
- You'd have a truly redundant and independent backup. Storage array snapshots don't provide protection against RAID group failures, storage array failures, or storage array software issues.
- Data could be kept for longer periods of time with Actifio's built in global dedup and compression
- Instant access to virtual copies of data from the Actifio system
bezoid
9 Posts
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September 5th, 2014 06:00
brylan - thank you for the detailed response to my question. very helpful information here.
mtanen
118 Posts
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September 20th, 2014 18:00
First - I think its important that we define the roles of products. Dell Replay Manager is used to provide Application assisted snapshots. This means if you are using Microsoft based products like Exchange, SQL, or Hyper-V this lets you get clean snapshots using VSS. You do not need Replay Manager to take snapshots - that is built into the SAN. Replay Manager also has a max out point. If you are doing more than 9 servers the unlimited is cheaper.
If you have two Compellents (at two different sites or even the same site) you can save tons of money and complexity using built-in features like Replays, Replication, and LiveVolume. SRM integration for virtual environments is based on your use of these features. Keep in mind that Compellent snapshots work differently as they are based on moving pointers around and making specific blocks read-only. That means they are incredible space efficient, work with the Compellent native disk tiering, and are able to compressed with the integrated compression feature.
If you have an off box backup solution (which is some cases can be appropriate) keep in mind that you need to purchase storage for it and that it adds to your administrative process of supporting two systems.
I would also add that with Dell's current capacity pricing model on their data protectiion solutions you have an easy method of purchasing AppAssure, vRanger, and NetVault as a single sku. The DR series of deduplicaton appliances can give you options for non-primary storage that works with whatever backup solution you settle on for off-box.
galland1928
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November 20th, 2014 17:00
Have you selected any product since you posted? We too are considering actifio. We really like their product features and pricing is very competitive.
bezoid
9 Posts
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November 21st, 2014 10:00
Galland - Yes, we selected Actifio, but we have not fully implemented it yet. So far, it seems like a really great product that is easy to use. One thing that I have noticed is that, being that the product is so new, the support techs don't always have an immediate answer, and I have heard, "I've never seen that before," but each time this has happened they just say, "I'll be right back" and they track down someone who knows the answer. I will try to remember to update you in a few weeks, once I can provide you with more details. So far I believe that we are completely satisfied with the product.
psitec
2 Posts
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December 6th, 2014 08:00
Same here. I am considering Actifio but there are a few questions I have:
1- Is it storage agnostic?
2- How easy is to restore Actifio backup, using standard tools without using their software?
3- Is their backup format PROPRIETARY format or I can use any tools to extract the backup?
4- How easy is to bring up a VM from the backup? Do I have to restore the backup first to a temporary location, apply the incremental up to the date/time indicated, then bring up the VM OR can we bring up the VM directly from the backup file and "sandbox" it to avoid conflict, e.g. IP conflict.
5- How do Actifio verify whether the backup is good or no-good? Do we have to restore the backup to a temporary directory first(require 1-to-1 equal storage) or can we just run it from the backup file itself?
6- How granular Actifio can recover any application data, e.g. specific email date/time on Exchange, specific row-level database restore, etc, etc? Most support SQL, Exchange, Active Directory, etc?
7- To achive the above (6), does Actifio require specific agent? OR is it agent-less?
8- If we decided to do a local tape backup, does Actifio include the feature in their base configuration or this is another add-on?
9- We have server ranging from Windows 2003 - 2012, does Actifio support them?
10- Automation! How easy is to fail over to the local backup VM or remote backup assuming the networking are possible(routed properly and the other site are reachable)? Do they have ONE BUTTON solution?
I am also curious if anyone have seen comparison with Unitrends, Veeam, and Zert0?