In our “5 Ways Disk Backup Can Help Your Business” blog series, we discussed the following topics: (1) how disk-based backup helps businesses get faster backups as their data grows, (2) how to avoid failed tape backups and restores and (3) how disk backup with data deduplication provides better, faster offsite disaster recovery. Now in part 4 of our series, we discuss IT staff time and cost savings associated with moving from tape to disk-based backup.
As I set out to write focused blog entries around these topics, I remembered that there are a number of voices that could better articulate the points I was trying to make. And these voices belong to current ExaGrid customers.
The fact is that ExaGrid’s disk-based backup appliance does save IT staff time for those that use it. Gone are the days of fighting with the tape library over jammed tapes, media errors, and slow backups. And by reducing or eliminating the use of tape in your environment, you can reduce costs.
But don’t take my word for it – read on:
From James Richmond, Network Administrator at Morningstar:
“It got to the point where I spent the majority of my day managing backups… I used to worry each night about backup jobs failing, especially over the weekend. The ExaGrid system has taken all of the worry and hassle out of our backups and it frees me up to do other things. The ExaGrid was also more cost-effective than the other solution evaluated.”
From Jason Ostrowski, Manager of IT at NPS Pharmaceuticals:
“Installing the ExaGrid system has saved NPS nearly $1,500 per month in tape costs and tape storage fees, but the biggest cost savings is in the amount of time the IT staff saves in managing and administering tape backups and restores, and in meeting SOX compliance.”
From Glenn Requierme, CIO at Vista Healthcare:
“The other area where the ExaGrid has made a big impact in is with restores. Restoring data from tape was a challenge because it was very labor intensive and took forever. With the ExaGrid, restores take no time at all.”
From Raquel Solomon, Network and Computer Support Specialist at City of Rancho Mirage:
“Before we deployed the ExaGrid system, restores were a nightmare. We used to have to go through lots of disks or tapes to locate the correct information and it took a considerable amount of time. It’s so easy to restore data from the ExaGrid. The information is all in one place and the actual restore process takes no time at all…”
From Dave Treamer, Sr. Associate Storage Architect Clifton Gunderson:
“We were being charged $220 per hour to have someone at our co-location facility work on our tape library. We had them swap tapes and usually called in three to four restore requests per day. It got expensive and it was time consuming. With the ExaGrid, we’ve been able to reduce those costs considerably and our restores take no time at all. Our users are thrilled with how fast we can complete their restore requests…”
From David Dunbar, CIO at Meridian Title Corporation:
“With the ExaGrid disk backup solution, it really is truly a ‘set it and forget it’ system. We’ve installed it. We’ve had successful backups since day one and haven’t looked back since. And even more important than the successful backups is that we’ve restored several times since adding ExaGrid and restores have been a matter of minutes where literally it was hours before.”
And perhaps my favorite from Gary Larson, CIO at Gardner Trucking:
“The ExaGrid system offered significantly better price/performance than other solutions…and came in at approximately 25 percent the cost of competitive disk backup solutions…We estimate that we would have lost approximately $200,000 in business and productivity if we had to restore our database from tape. The ExaGrid system more than paid for itself in the first two days.”
To read more from the above users, or to read other disk-based backup success stories, please visit our Customer Case Study section.
Want to learn more about making the move from tape to disk backup with deduplication? Download ‘7 Steps for Overcoming Limitations of Tape Backup’ today!