Overland Storage is expected to release the latest version of its REO disk-to-disk backup appliance sometime this month, giving it tape emulation capabilities and the ability to serve as secondary storage.
With tape emulation, servers can back data up to the REO 4000 hard drive-based appliance in native tape format without the need to modify application or backup software, said Peri Grover, director of product management for the San Diego-based company.
Disk-to-disk backup appliances, which are also available from such vendors as Quantum, can significantly speed up the backup process, said Dave Holloway, vice president of sales at West Coast Technology, an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based solution provider who has been working with Overland's REO series of appliances.
One recent customer, who was taking 48 hours to back up 500 Gbytes of data, cut that down to six hours by implementing an REO 2000, said Holloway. "Instead of bringing data down the (network) to tape, he was moving data to disk from eight servers at a time," he said.
While customer demand for hard drive-based backup appliances that offer tape emulation has been slow, it should pick up as customers learn the benefits, Holloway said. "With tape emulation, customers can use the processes and software they already have," he said.
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