"This can be very inexpensive storage," Parise says "It offers tremendous scaleability, because you can start very small and scale very high."
Diligent's VTF software can support up to 16 virtual tape libraries per server and up to 64 virtual tape drives. The software, which runs on Linux or Solaris servers, appears to Fibre Channel-attached disk arrays as if it were traditional tape drives and tape libraries. Customers starting out with a single-port system can add multiple hosts, servers, and disk arrays to increase their throughput and redundancy as need arises, Diligent says.
Of course, Diligent isn't the only company offering disk-based backup that looks and feels like tape. But while many hardware vendors, such as Quantum Corp. (NYSE: DSS) and Neartek Inc., may wrap software into their backup products, there are still few pure software plays in this space. In addition to Diligent, Alacritus Software Inc. also offers a software-only product (see Disk Backup 101 and Quantum Digs Into Disk Backup).
"I think there's a big opportunity for [pure] software players," says Enterprise Storage Group Inc. analyst Steve Kenniston, pointing out that as more companies consolidate their storage resources, they may turn up boxes that can simply be recycled with Diligent's software.
And while Diligent faces the typical startup problem of trying to gain traction in a market dominated by giants like EMC, Network Appliance Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP), and Storage Technology Corp. (StorageTek) (NYSE: STK), the company's close relationship with EMC gives it an edge, according to Kenniston. "The one area where they really stand out is their relationship with EMC," he says.
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