Panzura White Paper Panzura Global Cloud Storage System: Inherent Data Protection

Transcription

1 Panzura White Paper Panzura Global Cloud Storage System: Inherent Data Protection Panzura s game-changing Global Cloud Storage System technology finally brings the full power and benefits of cloud storage to enterprise customers, helping to break the unending onsite storage expansion cycle while eliminating islands of storage that inhibit cross-site user interaction and productivity and real-time data protection. Panzura makes deploying cloud storage and a global file system easy and transparent to users.

2 Executive Summary Backup and disaster recovery (DR) equipment, software, and processes typically represent one of the largest percentages of an overall storage budget. For every byte of data stored, there has to be a corresponding mechanism to recover that byte should the primary storage array or even the entire data center be taken offline. Storage administrators use several well known methods to create a robust backup and disaster recovery plan. Regardless of the method chosen, the simple fact remains that backup and DR continue to be separate, expensive, and complex processes to implement. The Panzura Global Cloud Storage System, which is described in the Panzura white paper Panzura Global Cloud Storage System - Overview provides two primary benefits. The first is providing a full-featured common file system just like local NAS to be utilized across geographic borders to enable global file and project workflow sharing. The second is enabling a centralized pool of storage capacity that is easier to scale, manage, and protect. An additional (though no less important) benefit of the Panzura Global Cloud Storage System is the ability for storage architects and administrators to radically simplify and cost reduce their data protection schemes without sacrificing their level of recoverability. This paper focuses on this final benefit of data protection. This white paper discusses the elements of a solid data protection plan, how they are typically implemented, and how the model changes when deploying the Panzura Global Cloud Storage System in conjunction with a private or public storage cloud. The resulting benefits are also explored. It is assumed that the reader is already familiar with the Panzura Global Cloud Storage System from other Panzura white papers. 2

3 Introduction Planning for every contingency that could lead to data unavailability or loss is one of the biggest challenges a storage architect faces. Not only must he carefully select his primary storage system, but he must plan to make backup copies of the data, preferably to an off-site facility, and do so in a timely fashion without disrupting or degrading the performance of the primary storage. With modern data growth rates, this challenge becomes more and more difficult each year because while data under management continues to grow larger, the number of hours in the day allocated to backups is constant or shrinking. Top 10 IT Priorities over the Next Months (Percent of respondents, N=515, multiple responses accepted) Increase use of server virtualization % Information security initiatives Improve data backup and recovery Upgrade network infrastructure Manage data growth Major application deployments or upgrades Data center consolidation Business continuity/disaster recovery programs Large-scale desktop/laptop PC refresh Regulatory compliance initiatives 28% 27% 27% 25% 24% 2% 21% 20% 19% Source: Enterprise Strategy Group, 2010 Figure 1 Improving data backup and recovery is a top IT initiative With the goal of improving recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO), the storage industry has responded with a number of technologies that seek to reduce the time it takes to perform backups (e.g. faster LTO tape speeds, deduplicating disk-based backup), the time it takes to move data offsite (e.g. deduplication, asynchronous replication, WAN acceleration), and the amount of time that passes between backups (e.g. continuous data protection). While there is value in each of these technologies, none of them fundamentally changes how backups are performed. The backup process remains the same and must still be setup, executed, monitored, and debugged. Let s examine what protections a backup and disaster recovery process provides. First some definitions of terms we will use: Primary Storage the array where the original data copy resides. This is distinct from storage tiers. Regardless of whether we are talking about Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier, etc. storage, the primary storage array always contains the authoritative copy of data and is the storage that the backup and disaster recovery process are endeavoring to protect. Secondary Storage this is the location where the backup/dr copy of data resides. Physical Data Protection these are mechanisms to protect data against hardware failures such as drives, arrays, switches, and even data centers going offline or being destroyed. Logical Data Protection these are mechanisms to protect against human and/or application errors that might corrupt or lose data such as accidental deletions, viruses, code bugs, and hacker attacks. Most data recovery problems that administrators are asked to resolve are of this variety.

4 White Paper - Panzura Global Cloud Storage System: Inherent Data Protection Tape backup with offsite vaulting Backup to local VTL Array-based snapshots Accidental deletion (logical error) Data corruption (logical error) Disk failure Array failure Site failure Event Type Do Nothing Remote replication Remote replication of snapshots Figure 2 A comprehensive backup and disaster recovery mechanism protects against both physical and logical data loss. Not all methods commonly in use do this. Those that do are typically complex, expensive, or both. The goal of backup and disaster recovery systems is to provide measures of both physical and logical data protection. Physical data protection comes through maintaining a separate, off-site copy of the data (which can be on tape, on replicated disk, on optical media, etc.) that is used to restore the primary storage in case of loss. Logical data protection comes from having multiple restore points (granular RPO) in the secondary storage (e.g. through snapshots or through multiple backup copies taken over time), allowing administrators to choose the point-in-time to recover. Redundant Copy Point-in-time Recovery RAID Protection Primary Storage Media Server/ Backup Software Data Center Off-site Copy Site Recovery Secondary Storage Off-site Vaulting Figure Elements of a backup and disaster recovery system include secondary storage to create a redundant copy of information, the ability to keep copies of data offsite and separate from primary storage, and multiple point-in-time images of the primary data store allowing selective recovery. 4

5 Cloud-Based Backup The most popular use for cloud storage today is as a backup target. Several backup software products now contain hooks to allow the media server to store the backup image off-site with a cloud provider. In addition, cloud backup gateway products that reside on site are offered by several vendors. These products act as a local disk target for the media server so that backups can complete quickly without having to traverse the Internet. The cloud backup gateway deduplicates the backup image and transfers it to the cloud in the background, retaining one or more recent backup images in local cache so that most recovery operations can occur quickly without pulling data from the cloud. This model is simple to implement and provides the requisite measures of physical (off-site copies in the cloud) and logical (multiple point-in-time backup images) data protection. However, while it does simplify the backup and DR process, it doesn t fundamentally change them. They still need to be performed and all the common backup window problems and cost issues remain. RAID Protection Redundant Copy Point-in-time Recovery Off-site Copy Site Recovery Internet Off-site Backups Primary Storage Media Server/ Backup Software Cloud Backup Gateway Cloud Data Center Figure 4 Cloud-based backup is gaining popularity as a way to replace tape-based systems. However, the backup model and cost structure remains largely the same. Panzura supports cloud-based backup and disaster recovery. A Quicksilver Cloud Storage Controller can present itself as a standard disk target to Symantec NetBackup 1 or IBM Tivoli TSM software, deduplicate the backup stream, and store it safely with any Panzura-supported cloud provider. While this may be an attractive starting point for using the cloud, the Panzura Global Cloud Storage System actually offers far more sophisticated data protection that leverages how object (cloud) storage operates to radically change the backup and disaster recovery model without compromising data protection levels. Let s now examine how cloud storage works and then revisit how Panzura takes advantage of the cloud to deliver these unique capabilities. 1 For more information on using Panzura with Symantec NetBackup, see Panzura s Symantec NetBackup Solution Brief. 5

6 Cloud Storage Architecture Reputable cloud storage providers take careful measures to ensure that they will not physically lose or corrupt data trusted to them. One of the fundamental data protection methodologies in place by all major providers is replication across cloud datacenters. When an object is stored in the cloud, the provider maintains at least two, and often three or more separate physical copies of the data. The best providers ensure that these different physical copies are in geographically separated data centers. In this manner, should anything happen a disk failure, a storage server failure, a network failure, even an entire data center failure customer data remains intact because at least one copy of the data survives the failure. We should note that while our examples illustrate public cloud storage practices, the physically replicated architecture is also typically found in private cloud deployments based on object-storage technology. Panzura s inherent data protection (see the next section) does not distinguish between public and private cloud models. It only requires that the cloud manage physical data protection. Copy 1 Location 1 Copy 2 Copy Location 2 Location Figure 5 Cloud providers maintain multiple copies of data, each in a distinct site. This provides robust physical data protection but does not address logical data protection. By maintaining multiple copies of data in physically separate sites, cloud providers meet the requirements for physical data protection. However, customer data is still vulnerable to customer-induced errors, for example an accidental deletion. Should a customer accidentally delete important data, the cloud provider simply complies and deletes all their replicated copies. This is the area of data protection that Panzura augments to provide a complete data protection solution. 6

7 The Panzura System - Inherent Data Protection Panzura leverages the power of cloud storage in conjunction with capabilities in the Panzura CloudFS file system to provide a complete data protection capability. However, unlike all other methods of backup and disaster recovery, the Panzura Global Cloud Storage System operates automatically and transparently all the time. In other words, there is nothing for the administrator to purchase, setup, manage, or maintain. The Panzura Global Cloud Storage System inherently delivers data protection as a side effect of how it was designed and architected. The key capability in the Panzura system that makes this possible are its granular snapshot capabilities. Because the Panzura CloudFS file system is perpetually capturing snapshot images of the file system as data is created and updated, there is an automatic restore mechanism built in. Should a user accidentally delete important files, they can quickly and easily recover them by navigating into the snapshot directory to a point in time prior to the deletion and performing a standard drag-anddrop file copy operation. With up to 10,000 user-managed snapshots possible per controller, this very granular capability can recover files, directories, or even the entire file system. When using the Panzura Global Cloud Storage System in conjunction with cloud storage, Panzura s snapshots provide the logical data protection mechanism and the cloud provides the physical data protection. In combination, the system delivers the same data protection that a well-engineered backup and disaster recovery solution would provide. Panzura Snapshot Technology Internet Primary Data Copy Site A Secondary Data Copy Site B Tertiary Data Copy Customer Data Center Cloud Provider Infrastructure Figure 6 The Panzura Global Cloud Storage System takes multiple point-in-time snapshot images of file data and stores it in the cloud, where it is physically protected through replication across data centers. This system is analogous to traditional backup processes in the protection that it provides, but doesn t require additional software, hardware, or manpower. It inherently protects data. 7

8 Event Type Do Nothing Tape backup with offsite vaulting Backup to local VTL Array-based snapshots Remote replication Remote replication of snapshots Panzura System with Cloud Storage Accidental deletion (logical error) Data corruption (logical error) Disk failure Array failure Site failure Summary Data protection no longer has to be a complex, expensive, time-consuming process requiring specific expertise. The Panzura Global Cloud Storage System offers a new model for inherent file data protection that provides the same types of backup and disaster recovery capabilities that the enterprise expects without the need for separate backup processes. This model leverages the power of the Panzura Global Cloud Storage System in conjunction with the architecture of cloud storage and is completely automatic. Panzura radically improves file management by enabling global access to a global file system, helping IT centralize storage where it is easier to add capacity and manage, and providing inherent data protection that obviates the need for traditional backup and disaster recovery tools. About Panzura Panzura optimizes enterprise data storage management and distribution in the cloud, making cloud storage simple and secure. Panzura s revolutionary global cloud storage solution h combines the flexibility, performance and productivity benefits of distributed storage with the manageability, security and cost benefits of centralized storage, overcoming fundamental administrator vs. user and budget vs. performance conflicts. With Panzura, data location no longer affects usage. Panzura: Cloud Storage Made Seamless. Panzura, Inc. 695 Campbell Technology Pkwy #225, Campbell, CA, USA 855-PANZURA Copyright 2016 Panzura, Inc. All rights reserved. Panzura is a registered trademark or trademark of Panzura, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. WP-Inherent Data Protection a