Top Data Protection Predictions for 2014
With more data at stake and backups taking longer than ever, more organizations are relying on replication to protect their data. The challenge they face is scheduling the replication of the data in a way that doesn’t choke off network bandwidth that is sorely needed by production applications.
Dell this week addressed that issue with the release of version 5.4 of AppAsure, the backup and recovery software that the company acquired in 2012.
The latest update to AppAssure allows IT organizations to set replication schedules and limit the amount of bandwidth consumed by the replication process by adjusting the speed at which the replication occurs. In addition, the new version of AppAssure makes it possible to replicate data to multiple target servers to provide multi-tier data protection.
Other new features in AppAsure 5.4 include the ability to select the size of the cache memory to be allocated for data deduplication and an enhanced graphical user interface that makes it easier to create reports.
Eric Endebrock, senior director of product management and product marketing for data protection at Dell Software, says that as the volume and variety of data that needs to be protected increases, IT organizations need a lot more flexibility when it comes to securing that data. While there will always be a need to backup files, a significant element of that flexibility is going to be provided by reliance on replication, says Endebrock.
While data protection may not be the most strategic of IT issues these days, it is one that consumes a lot of time and generates a lot of angst. The end goal is not only to protect data, but to do it in a way that frees up time for IT staff to concentrate on other things that matter to the business.
