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    Dell Ups Backup and Recovery Game

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    Key Features to Keep in Mind When Evaluating Backup and Restore Solutions

    When it comes to backup and recovery, Quest Software was always generally listed in the “other” category when it came to market share. But since Dell acquired Quest Software, the whole backup and recovery category has been receiving a lot more attention from the Dell Software group, which emerged in the wake of the acquisition.

    This week, Dell Software signaled its intent to compete more aggressively in the backup and recovery software space with the release of NetVault Backup 10 and the introduction of a data deduplication appliance designed to make it simpler to reduce the volume of data that actually needs to be backed up.

    Eric Endebrock, senior director of product management and product marketing for data protection, Dell, says NetVault Backup 10 not only sports a new user interface, but also a complete revamp of the NetVault Backup 10 operating system. In addition, NetVault Backup 10 is now based on a Postgres database running multithreaded backup processes that enables NetVault Backup 10 to scale much more linearly than previous versions of the backup and recovery software.

    In addition, Endebrock notes that the DR6000 appliance Dell developed not only provides the industry’s first source-side data deduplication to improve overall backup performance by a factor of four, Dell has also enhanced replication and file sharing capabilities in a way that simultaneously replicates data from up to 64 different DR series deduplication appliances to a single DR6000 appliance.

    Both the DR6000 appliance and NetVault Backup 10 make use of a new Rapid Data Access (RDA) protocol that Endebrock says is capable of processing 22 TB of data per hour.

    As the first major release of NetVault Backup since Dell acquired Quest Software, Endebrock says NetVault Backup 10 is a signal that Dell intends to compete much more aggressively in a backup and recovery space where Quest Software was often viewed as a relatively small player. The degree to which Dell can execute that strategy in the face of stiff competition remains to be seen. But the one thing that is clear at this juncture is that at a time when backup performance is critical to dealing with the massive amounts of data that need to be managed in the enterprise, Dell has decided to become a much more significant player in backup and recovery than Quest Software ever was on its own.

    Mike Vizard
    Mike Vizard
    Michael Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist, with nearly 30 years of experience writing and editing about enterprise IT issues. He is a contributor to publications including Programmableweb, IT Business Edge, CIOinsight and UBM Tech. He formerly was editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise, where he launched the company’s custom content division, and has also served as editor in chief for CRN and InfoWorld. He also has held editorial positions at PC Week, Computerworld and Digital Review.

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