Enterprise Backup Solution Vendor Questions What is the size of a single full back up? If Backups comprise 28% of the 19TB, can we assume that a single full (not compressed) is approximately 6TB? The approximate amount of data we have is 19 TB. The Backups which comprise approximately 28% of the 19 TB would make that portion of data that we save approximately the 6 TB you reference. The data contained in the backups breakout would include SQL *.bak files, exchange disk backups, and disk backups of our web servers. This allows for easy recovery. Although we have a small area of disk that can store this information, the new proposed disk and software system should allow for room for this type of storage as well. Does the backup data remain in daily back ups? We do perform daily backups as well as weekly, monthly, and yearly. Currently everything is running to tape and then when the cycle comes up the tapes are reused. Are images compressible formats? The majority of our images are *.gho and *.tib files What is the current library s connectivity (FC/SAS/SCSI)? The current tape library has FC connectivity between the media server and the tape unit. Should a new tape library be included in the proposal? A new disk library unit should be included as we would like to make our current LTO tape library more for archival purposes and disaster recovery. By continuing to reuse the current tape equipment we can place more of the replacement budget towards the new disk system and/or software vendor changes that would make the system more efficient. We will still need to keep monthly data for 1 year and yearly data for 7 years. If your proposal includes a new tape library and tapes to support those items it should be listed as a separate line item. Do you do incremental backups or daily full backups? We do daily full backups on as many systems as we can complete in the allotted timeframe each night. However, there are some systems that must be performed as incremental backups. We will then complete the full backup over the weekend. If weekly full backups are done, what is the size of the largest daily incremental backup? Daily full backups are done as well. How many physical sites will require local disk storage (i.e. DR Site)? One physical site What is the internet bandwidth at each site? 30 MB
Is any of your data encrypted? Is so, how much? No Is encryption required for data security of off site media? No Will 10Gig Fiber or Ethernet be available for connectivity? We have 10 Gig in limited ports In the event of a system outage, what is the County s recovery time objective? Our Emergency Management team is currently working with departments to determine the recovery time for each system. We will have requests for some systems to have same day recovery times. Is any disk based storage currently in use? If so, what is the capacity? We have a limited amount of disk space available to us. We are currently using a portion of our HP Lefthand SANS. Is removable disk being considered as an option to tape? This would be considered as an option. What is the expected life of the LTO4 for the County? 3 years It is indicated that tools to identify archivable items should be identified in this proposal. Should the capability to perform the archival process of moving the actual data to archive storage be included as part of the proposal, either as a requirement or an option? At this time we are not looking to move data to archival storage. We do want to be able to see whether or not our data is being used or if it is static data that has the potential to be moved. As storage space continues to climb each year it would be beneficial to attempt to recover space as needed. Does the County intend to leverage array based Snapshot technology? Outagamie County is currently not familiar with this type of technology or the benefits it could provide. We are open to new technology that will accomplish our list of requirements and fall within our budget. Regarding the current NetWare Servers How many NetWare Servers are there? Will these require protections? Does the environment include Lotus Notes or Groupwise? We do not have any NetWare servers and do not use Notes or Groupwise.
What is the OS on the physical servers and workstations? Windows 2003, Windows 2003 R2, Windows 2008, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 7 What brad are the physical servers? We have mostly HP and a few Dell servers What is the relative age of servers, both physical and virtual? The virtual hosts are about 2 years old and the other servers vary from 9 years to a couple of months. What are the databases that are in use? SQL What specific applications are in use? We have somewhere in the range of 200 300 different applications. What specific versions of Windows, Linux, VWM, SQL is the County running? Linux 2.6.18 164.eL5 Windows 2003, Windows 2003 R2, Windows 2008, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 7 SQL 2000, SQL 2005, SQL 2008 VMWare 4.1 Which, if any, applications are virtualized? (SQL, SharePoint, Exchange, AD, for example) We have SQL applications, Citrix servers, but not Exchange. We currently have 43 virtual servers running a variety of applications. What are the license counts for the current software 1 Backup Exec 2010 media server 1 Remote Agents for Linux/Unix Server 72 Remote Agents for Windows and NetWare Servers 7 Agent for VMWare virtual infrastructure 2 Desktop and Laptop option 3 Library Expansion Option 1 Advanced Disk Based backup option 2 Active Directory Recovery Agent 2 Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server Is the County current on the Backup Exec technical support maintenance? Our maintenance is current.
Is there a need to backup laptops? We are not currently backing up laptops. Is server hardware required as part of this proposal, or will the County provide their own servers meeting the recommended specifications of the chosen solutions provider? We will be in need of server hardware and disk hardware for this project. Pricing for this equipment would be preferred as the budget is the same budget for both the software and hardware. Without pricing for both the hardware and software we would not be able to make a decision until we know what the total solution will cost. Is disk storage hardware required as part of this proposal, or will the County provide their own servers meeting the recommended specifications of the chosen solutions provider? We will be in need of server hardware and disk hardware for this project. Pricing for this equipment would be preferred as the budget is the same budget for both the software and hardware. Without pricing for both the hardware and software we would not be able to make a decision until we know what the total solution will cost. Is pricing required for any other hardware? We are in need of a replacement system. Without pricing for hardware that may be necessary for the solution to function we would not be able to make a decision until we know what the total solution will cost. Should implementation or professionals serviced be included? Implementation and/or professional services could be included as long as it is listed out as a separate line item. This may or may not be something we would take advantage of. You ve asked for training information, is pricing required? If so, how many people would be attending, user or administrative? Please include the pricing for 2 administrators but show each priced individually. Do you require pricing for tools for archivable items? At this time we are not looking to move data to archival storage. We do want to be able to see whether or not our data is being used or if it is static data that has the potential to be moved. As storage space continues to climb each year it would be beneficial to attempt to recover space as needed. If there is a separate reporting module that would allow for this functionality then it would be beneficial for pricing to be listed separately for this item.
What specific maintenance coverage does the County want? We are unsure of the options each manufacturer has. You may provide various maintenance options. Are you looking for a complete enterprise solution or software only? We are looking for a complete enterprise solution. We are currently looking at other software vendors to see what the market has improved on and if a new solution would provide us with better functionality. However, our main purpose is the replacement of our aging tape system to a faster disk based system. The new system must be able to improve backup performance time and yet still allow us to store our information to the current tape system. We believe we can save costs by continuing to use our current LTO tape drive for our long term storage while keeping the faster disk based system for more current data. See hardware requirements listed in attachment A.