Disk-Based Data Deduplication Reduces Bank’s Backup Window
American National Bank and Trust Company is a Mid-Atlantic regional bank with a rich history reaching back to 1909. When nightly tape backups reached 12-hours along with requiring runners back and forth between locations to restore corrupt tapes, American National Bank and Trust began looking for a more secure and reliable data backup system.
American National Bank and Trust was going through as many as 35 tapes every two weeks, which were stored offsite. While eliminating tape and reducing the 12-hour backup window were primary deciding factors, they were looking for solutions that would address increased auditing requirements, compliance and improve security with faster and more reliable restores and backups.
American National Bank and Trust's Network Administrator and IT staff looked at several solutions including virtual tape library (VLT), disk repository systems without data compression, straight SATA and disk-based data deduplication. Their Network Administrator stated, “Cost was an important factor for us. We looked at VTL systems and found them cost-prohibitive. Also, we considered adding straight disk to our SAN, but it would have been expensive and more complex because we would have had to configure and manage it on our own.” Disk repository systems were also evaluated but proved expensive. They did not offer compression, and would have needed a larger capacity and more expensive appliance.
ExaGrid Data Deduplication Proved Best for Reducing Backup Window and Disk Space
American National Bank and Trust chose ExaGrid’s disk-based data deduplication for their cost benefits, combined with the ability to put so much data on a smaller system. This made the ExaGrid data deduplication system much more feasible than the other solutions. They have seen their backup window drop from 12 hours to 6 and has seen the amount of backup data stored reduced significantly, even though data retention periods have remained consistent.
ExaGrid’s data deduplication solution combines standard data compression for the most recent backups, along with byte-level delta data reduction for all previous backups. This byte-level delta data reduction technology stores changes from backup to backup instead of storing full file copies. This means ExaGrid appliances implement target-based data deduplication and carry out deduplication post-process. This allows long-term backup history to be cost-effectively stored on disk.
Intelligent, Cost-Effective Data Protection
ExaGrid provided a cost-effective and scalable data backup system solution for American National Bank and Trust that combined high quality SATA drives, compression, and data reduction through data deduplication for fast and reliable backups and restores that seamlessly integrated with their existing backup system, Symantec Backup Exec. “Setting up the ExaGrid was really simple. There were only a few steps – even a beginner could set it up,” said American National Bank and Trust's Network Administrator. “All we had to do was set up a file share on the ExaGrid, and then point Backup Exec to it. ExaGrid takes care of everything else. We never have to touch it.”
After 3 years deployment, American National Bank and Trust continues to benefit from using ExaGrid’s disk-based data deduplication system.