David's Discussions

Who Needs To Backup A Centera Anyway?

With the recent demise of the ill-fated Centera Backup and Recovery Manager (CBRM), it appears that EMC is throwing in the towel on Centera backup software. So who needs Centera backup anyway? Maybe you chose to just buy one Centera and put it in a room with a sprinkler head, better known as professional Russian Roulette. Or maybe professional paranoia has kept you from drinking all the EMC Kool-Aid on replication being the final answer to data protection on the Centera.

Backup is one of those necessary evils in many IT shops. But backing up the Centera by its very nature is not trivial, since it is not your run-of-the-mill array with your run-of-the-mill operating system. Centera’s code, CentraStar, is something far more purpose built (read “black box complete with Oompa Loompas and a secret handshake”) for the ultra compliant needs of healthcare records, federal geographic surveys, good homebrew recipes, or anything else that absolutely, positively must not be changed once written.

So how do you back up this genetically enhanced WORM? That question was hard for even EMC to answer! They went the NDMP route with CBRM as a bolt on to the likes of NetBackup and Legato, trying to treat it like a NAS, but the process was wrought with challenges from the outset. With a surprising nod from EMC, enter Seven10 Storage Software.

The little company based not so far from EMC itself built the better mousetrap with the self-contained Centera backup application ALTUS. Symantec and the other juggernauts of backup need not fear this little silver bullet as it is truly purpose built to the needs of Centera owners. ALTUS will require its own server and tape drive; but for a Centera, backup is not a performance discussion, so a light (VMware anyone?) footprint is looking like the way to go.

So it won’t cure all your backup woes, but if you will sleep better with a tape copy of your Centera, this gem may bring the ZZZZs.

(If you’re having trouble sleeping at night, the IDS Blog recommends Tylenol PM, a scotch on the rocks, or any Jane Austen novel.)

More: Video interview with IT Director who implemented an enterprise-class backup and replication solution using CommVault