Tandberg blends iSCSI with virtual tape
Backing up over IP makes tape optional.
By Bryan Betts | Techworld | Published: 12:14, 29 March 2005
Tandberg Data is jumping into the iSCSI market with a new range of backup devices.
The intelligent BakStor device uses iSCSI and 1.6TB of RAID storage to provide block-based backup and recovery services across IP networks. It can also run software to applystorage policies, says Greg Lythe, Tandberg's European storage manager.
"Our technology allows the user to simply write and forget. The user can focus on making the data whilst we focus on looking after it," he said, adding that policies could for example transparently archive data, or replicate it onto storage elsewhere.
According to Tandberg, BakStor will support both disk-to-disk-to-tape and virtual tape schemes - in the former, the initial backup is to disk and data is then copied to tape in the background, while the latter makes the iSCSI box emulate a tape drive.
Using iSCSI means that servers can be backed up remotely without the need for a separate storage area network. The server can either use a software iSCSI driver if it has CPU time to spare, or a dedicated iSCSI adapter board to lift the load on the CPU.
BakStor was acquired when Tandberg bought Manchester's Computer Design Group (CDG) earlier this month, and Lythe says that it will use CDG's expertise to help it move beyond simply selling tape drives and other storage hardware. In particular, it plans to build and sell complete storage systems, including software to do things such as NAS file services and storage provisioning.
