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Introduction The disk backup appliance market continues to grow with major server, storage, and backup software vendors investing research and development in maturing available features. These aren t just a bunch of disks; look closely at differentiating features to find the solution that best fits your needs. This Research Is Designed For: Enterprises seeking to select a solution for diskbased backup. Selection will differ according to the size of the company and its capacity requirements. Selection will also vary according to a requirement of virtual tape library (VTL). Enterprises looking to make the switch from tape to disk-based backup. This Research Will Help You: Understand what s new in the disk-based backup market. Evaluate backup and recovery vendors and products for your enterprise needs. Determine which products are most appropriate for particular use cases and scenarios. 2
Executive Summary Info-Tech evaluated ten competitors in the Disk Backup Appliance market, including the following notable performers: Champions: Symantec s NetBackup 5030 appliance offers flexible replication capabilities and easy deployment and integration within existing NetBackup environments. ExaGrid s GRID architecture simplifies scaling of capacity and performance for its customers at a cost effective price point. Quantum differentiates its DXi-Series appliances with a rich feature set, ease of scaling and management, and a continued commitment to innovation in data protection. HP has expanded its StoreOnce portfolio of backup appliances into the enterprise with the HP StoreOnce B6200. Its two-node clusters with autonomic restart capabilities bring high availability to backup. Value Award: Symantec, through independent licensing of hardware and software, makes adding the 5030 easy for existing customers. Trend Setter Award: Quantum innovated in the past with upstream dedupe and its DXiV1000 virtual appliance, and its new Dynamic Disk Pools technology improves on RAID6 architecture for faster drive rebuilds, which will be key to its support for 3TB drives. Info-Tech Insight 1. Scalability: Data deduplication used to be a differentiator in disk backup, but the ability to scale capacity and deduplicate that capacity is now a key differentiator in the market. Innovating vendors are finding ways to improve on the old scale up model with either scale out or software-enabled expansion. 2. Replicability: All reputable solutions offer both bidirectional and fan-in replication, but organizations with more complex needs will need a vendor with one-to-many, many-tomany, and/or cascaded replication capabilities. 3. Flexibility: As organizations require more aggressive RPOs and RTOs in combination with nondedupable workloads and archiving, many require a mix of disk and tape, and control over whether a job is deduplicated or not. Look to solutions that support both tape support and an option to turn deduplication off. 3
Market Overview How it got here Spinning disk simplified management and speeded restore. Many organizations moved to disk to eliminate tape rotation headaches and improve recovery times. Deduplication became mainstream. Originally championed by start-up innovators such as market leader Data Domain, dedupe has become mainstream, driving down the cost per terabyte differences between disk and tape. Deduplicating Virtual Tape Library (VTL) appliances had the added advantage of being a drop in solution. A VTL could be installed in place of a retired tape library with no change to backup procedures or software. Disk-to-disk backup became the dominant architecture. A 2012 Info-Tech survey found 62% investing in a new backup architecture were focused on disk-to-disk (vs. 17% disk-to-tape). Many organizations have now moved tape to an archiving role or have eliminated tape altogether. Where it s going flexibility has become an area of differentiation. Most disk backup appliances can conduct bidirectional replication between sites and fan-in replication from Remote and Branch Offices (ROBOs), but some solutions can also replicate from one site to many or enable cascaded replication schemes. Appliance vendors are getting pressure to enable high availability. Virtual infrastructures have driven up business expectations for agility and availability, and these expectations are trickling down to backup. Look for vendors to add dual controller architectures to their portfolio if they haven t already. Big Data will make speed and scalability more important. Organizations of all sizes are seeing significant data growth, which has an even greater impact on backup storage than primary storage because multiple copies of data are often retained. Scaling of both capacity and throughput will become more and more important as these data volumes grow further. As the market evolves, capabilities that were once cutting edge become default and new functionality becomes differentiating. Deduplication as well as bidirectional and fan-in replication have become Table Stakes capabilities and should no longer be used to differentiate solutions. Instead, focus on scalability and flexibility in replication options to get the best fit for your requirements. 4
Disk Backup Vendor selection / knock-out criteria: market share, mind share, and platform coverage For the purposes of this Vendor Landscape report, vendors must be able to provide a deduplicating disk backup appliance and be capable of pricing out the disk appliance component separately from backup software. In addition, Info-Tech focused on those vendors that have a strong market presence and/or reputational presence among mid and large-sized enterprises. Included in this Vendor Landscape: EMC. Market share leader and early entrant in the space with its purchase of Data Domain in 2009. Dell. Entering the deduplicating disk backup appliance market, Dell has been adding functionality to its DR4000 series appliances quickly and continuously since initially going to market in 2012. ExaGrid. Focused solely on backup appliances, ExaGrid s unique GRID architecture for simple scaling of capacity and performance has made it an appealing solution, especially for small to mid-market customers. FalconStor. A mature data protection vendor, FalconStor offers flexible replication and deduplication options for midmarket and enterprise customers. Fujitsu Technology Solutions. Long time seller of reliable disk-based storage, Fujitsu offers both appliances for midmarket and gateway devices for enterprise. HP. With its StoreOnce solutions, HP has, in the last year, expanded its deduplicating appliance capabilities into the enterprise through improved performance, scalability, and availability. IBM. Long time disk and tape provider with both appliance and gateway solutions for mid-market and large enterprises. Quantum. Data protection focuses company with roots in tape backup; it provides software, disk appliances, and tape libraries for companies of all sizes. Sepaton. High-end disk backup provider for large enterprises with high performance needs. Symantec. Strong and market share leading backup software vendor that has seen notable success with its appliances. Unitrends. Small backup vendor targeting small to mid-sized companies with easy to use, all-in-one backup solutions. 5
Disk Backup criteria & weighting factors Product Evaluation Criteria Criteria Weighting: Features The solution provides basic and advanced feature/functionality. Features 20% 30% Usability Usability Affordability The solution s dashboard and reporting tools are intuitive and easy to use. The three year TCO of the solution is economical. Architecture 30% 20% Affordability Architecture The solution is scalable and is regularly updated with innovative technologies. Product 50% Vendor Evaluation Criteria Viability Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will be around for the long-term. 50% Strategy Vendor is committed to the space and has a future product and portfolio roadmap. Viability Vendor Strategy Reach Vendor offers global coverage and is able to sell and provide post-sales support. 25% 30% Channel Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and the channels themselves are strong. Channel 15% 30% Reach 6
The Info-Tech Disk Backup Vendor Landscape The Zones of the Landscape Champions receive high scores for most evaluation criteria and offer excellent value. They have a strong market presence and are usually the trend setters for the industry. The Info-Tech Disk Backup Vendor Landscape: ExaGrid Market Pillars are established players with very strong vendor credentials, but with more average product scores. Innovators have demonstrated innovative product strengths that act as their competitive advantage in appealing to niche segments of the market. Emerging Players are newer vendors who are starting to gain a foothold in the marketplace. They balance product and vendor attributes, though score lower relative to market Champions. FalconStor Sepaton Dell Quantum Symantec HP IBM EMC Fujitsu For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape is created, see Information Presentation Vendor Landscape in the Appendix. 7
Balance individual strengths to find the best fit for your enterprise Product Vendor 1234 Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Dell EMC* ExaGrid FalconStor Fujitsu* HP IBM Quantum Sepaton* Symantec Legend =Exemplary =Good =Adequate =Inadequate =Poor *The vendor declined to provide pricing and publically available pricing could not be found. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Harvey Balls are calculated, see Information Presentation Criteria Scores (Harvey Balls) in the Appendix. 8
The Info-Tech Disk-based Backup Appliance Value Index What is a Value Score? The Value Score indexes each vendor s product offering and business strength relative to their price point. It does not indicate vendor ranking. Champion On a relative basis, Symantec maintained the highest Info-Tech Value Score TM of the vendor group. Vendors were indexed against Symantec s performance to provide a complete, relative view of their product offerings. Vendors that score high offer more bang-forthe-buck (e.g. features, usability, stability, etc.) than the average vendor, while the inverse is true for those that score lower. Price-conscious enterprises may wish to give the Value Score more consideration than those who are more focused on specific vendor/product attributes. 100 99 90 80 63 70 32 60 21 50 40 Average Score: 40 11 10 0 0 0 30 20 10 *The vendor declined to provide pricing and publically available pricing could not be found For an explanation of how Price is determined, see Information Presentation Price Evaluation in the Appendix. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Value Index is calculated, see Information Presentation Value Index in the Appendix. 9
Table Stakes represent the minimum standard; without these, a product doesn t even get reviewed Feature Bidirectional Fan-in (N:1) Deduplication Encryption In Flight Compression CIFS/NFS Support The Table Stakes What it is: Appliance A can be configured to replicate to appliance B, and vice versa. Multiple appliances can replicate over the WAN or LAN to one central appliance. Redundant data objects are eliminated within the backup appliance, either inline or post process. Data is encrypted before replicating over WAN using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol. Encodes data on the appliance with fewer bits than which the data was originally encoded. Ability to leverage Common Internet File System and Network File System remote file access protocols. What Does This Mean? The products assessed in this Vendor Landscape TM meet, at the very least, the requirements outlined as Table Stakes. Many of the vendors go above and beyond the outlined Table Stakes, some even do so in multiple categories. This section aims to highlight the products capabilities in excess of the criteria listed here. If Table Stakes are all you need from your Disk Backup solution, the only true differentiator for the organization is price. Otherwise, dig deeper to find the best price to value for your needs. 10
Advanced Features are the capabilities that allow for granular market differentiation Scoring Methodology Info-Tech scored each vendor s features offering as a summation of their individual scores across the listed advanced features. Vendors were given 1 point for each feature the product inherently provided. Some categories were scored on a more granular scale with vendors receiving half points. Feature One-to-Many (1:N) Many-to-Many (N:N) Cascaded Scale-out Architecture Upgradable Controller Bandwidth Throttling Tape Integration Encryption at Rest No Dedupe Option Multi-Controller Configuration Advanced Features What we looked for: Can be configured to replicate from one primary appliance to many appliances (at other sites). topology among three or more sites each appliance has multiple site destinations. Can replicate from appliance A to appliance B, and then from appliance B to appliance C. Can add nodes to increase throughput and capacity, and appear as a single pool of storage. Controllers can be upgraded to increase throughput and/or performance. Appliance s bandwidth utilization can be controlled directly and scheduled. Appliance enables direct integration with tape systems without third-party software intervention. Data can be physically stored in an encrypted state on the appliance. Optionally stores data in undeduplicated state such as image files or pre-compressed data. Provides true high availability through redundant controller configuration for each appliance. For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, see Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stop Lights) in the Appendix. 11
Each vendor offers a different feature set; concentrate on what your organization needs Evaluated Features 1:N N:N Cascaded Scale-out Architecture Upgradable Controller Bandwidth Throttling Tape Integration Encryption at Rest No Dedupe Option Multicontroller Dell EMC ExaGrid FalconStor Fujitsu HP IBM Quantum Sepaton Symantec Legend =Feature fully present =Feature partially present/pending =Feature Absent For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, see Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stop Lights) in the Appendix. 12
Focus on a class of solutions that align with your scale and service level requirements Large organizations have more stringent archival, scalability, and high availability and may be overkill for small or mid-sized companies. 1 2 3 4 Organization Size Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use-cases come to the forefront. Whether those use-cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use-cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. Small to Mid-Range Companies CS 800 StoreOnce 4000 Series TS7620 Appliance Entry Enterprise to Large Enterprise StoreOnce 6200 Backup Exec integrated TS7650 Gateway NetBackup integrated or unintegrated (5030) For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. CS High End 13
Consider different data deduplication philosophies depending on performance requirements and data complexity Post-process deduplication can provide backup performance assurances, but requires more total processing than inline; some solutions can do both. 1 2 3 4 Deduplication Options Flexible Inline or Post-Process Deduplication Inline Deduplication Software-integrated appliances only Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use-cases come to the forefront. Whether those use-cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use-cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. NetBackup 5030 only Post-Process Deduplication For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. 14
Solutions differ extensively on how global their dedupe capabilities really are, but this may not matter for many All solutions can replicate deduped data between sites for Disaster Recovery, but most cannot provide deduplication beyond a single appliance. 1 2 3 Deduplication Expansibility 4 Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use-cases come to the forefront. Whether those use-cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use-cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. Within Gateway CS HE (up to 10 devices) TS7620 Appliance (up to 8 nodes) TS7650 Gateway Across Multiple Appliances or Within Cluster (up to 6 nodes) Within Appliance For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. (up to 2 nodes) CS 800 15
Consider existing backup policies and schedules when upgrading to disk from tape While Virtual Tape Libraries (VTLs) are falling out of favor, they are still an easy upgrade path from tape or for organizations upgrading hardware only. 1 2 3 4 VTL Functionality VTL and NAS Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use-cases come to the forefront. Whether those use-cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use-cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. VTL only NAS only (through CIFS/NFS) For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. 16
Symantec s deduplicating backup appliances leverage its longstanding maturity in the space Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: NetBackup 5030 appliance 17,000+ Mountain View, CA Symantec.com 1982 NASDAQ: SYMC 3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricing tier 6, between $100,000 and $250,000 $1 $2.5M+ Pricing provided by vendor (based on 5030 appliance only) Overview Symantec is the largest provider of security, data protection, and archiving software in the world. It entered the backup appliance market in 2009 by pairing its market share leading Backup Exec and NetBackup software with deduplicating disk systems. Strengths NetBackup 5030 backup appliances each provide usable capacity of 32TB as a target, and up to six appliances can be aggregated for 192TB of usable, globally deduped capacity. Dedupe options are more flexible than most, with dedupe at the source, media server, or target, and either inline or postprocess. Independent licensing of hardware and software simplifies scaling and protects software investments over time. Easy and flexible deployment; appliances integrate simply into existing Backup Exec and NetBackup environments. Symantec s other backup software-integrated appliances for Backup Exec (up to 5.5TB usable) and NetBackup (4-64TB usable) allow it to address a broad market. Challenges Perceived lack of maturity in disk sales and support can be a challenge against competitors with a long history in the space. NetBackup 5030 can only be targeted by NetBackup or Backup Exec backup software. 17
Symantec s flexible deployment options and intuitive licensing make it an easy drop-in to Symantec backup environments Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Capacity Range Before Deduplication Capacity range between 32TB and 192TB Value Index 1TB Max In-Appliance Usable Capacity (presentable as single storage pool) 8PB 100 Features 1 st out of 10 1:N N:N Cascaded Scale-out Architecture Upgradable Controller Bandwidth Throttling Tape Integration Encryption at Rest No Dedupe Option Multicontroller Info-Tech Recommends: If you are a Symantec customer or considering a switch in backup software, Symantec s appliances should be considered for their ease of deployment. They have the basic replication and deduplication capabilities that fit most organizations needs. 18