Enterprise-Level Backup & Archival

[Andrew Richards]

SMB solutions include ($6K-$20K):
Cache-A Pro-Cache
Storage DNA Evolution

Enterprise solutions include ($75K+++):
Atempa Digital Archive
Quantum StorNext Storage Manager
Front Porch Digital DIVA

The important thing is you want something that will let you search the archive to find what you want to restore. Good luck.

Best,
Andy

[John Heagy]

[Andrew Richards] “SMB solutions include ($6K-$20K):
Cache-A Pro-Cache
Storage DNA Evolution”

I would add Presstore to this list:

https://www.archiware.com/home.1.1.html

[Brittany Delillo]

Thanks guys. This was very helpful 🙂

[Scott Vanzo]

Not sure what your exact needs are, but here is my experience:

After several years use, we ditched BRU Server because of the buggy “console” app and poorly designed GUI. Cheap, and fairly easy to install and use, with a decent server component, but unreliable front end. Tolis has moved too slowly when it comes to bug fixes and updates to the BRU Server product, and I encountered some problems restoring from some older archives, so the choice was inevitable.

We looked at Atempo and Bakbone, but found the demos complicated to install and use, and very expensive. In my opinion, the sales groups tended to obfuscate their product with marketing cliche in order to justify the cost. One company (cannot remember which) strongly recommended that they come on site to install their product for a significant fee. For large organizations with more complicated needs, the bells and whistles of these two may be worth the cost and complexity. Not for us.

We then discovered PresSTORE Backup, and I must say we found the perfect combination of ease of use, rock solid reliability, and cost. I was quite startled that the install was that fast and easy. There is only one installer for each OS, not 3 separate components like BRU. Unlike BRU, configuration of the backup server and clients is performed entirely through the server’s web interface, accessible from any node on your LAN. The GUI is a vast improvement over BRU’s somewhat clunky interface. Config, Job, and Log info is organized logically and efficiently. I do not have to wait for data to load or refresh like the BRU console. While BRU’s logs can be excessively verbose and a chore to sift through, I have found PresSTORE’s logs are much more concise and legible. Tolis could learn some lessons here.

So far, our backups have been flawless. We have 3 backup pools of 20 LTO-3 volumes each, rotated off site each week. I have not seen any errors, only occasional file access warnings when files are created or modified while being backed up. Many restores have been performed, mostly for testing, and we have yet to get the software to fail. The web server has never failed or even shown a glitch.

The only problem with I have had is when stopping PresSTORE for server maintenance. The software sometimes refuses to shutdown for reasons I have yet to determine. Otherwise it has been a joy to use.