Okapi Moves To Accelerate Data Backups

Okapi Software plans to unveil a new disk-to-disk backup appliance that allows data to be quickly backed up at hard drive speed for eventual storage to tape.

The new device, the ipXcelerator, will come with up to eight Maxtor Serial-ATA hard drives for a maximum of 1.6 Tbytes of raw capacity in a 2U rack-mount space, said Bob Farkaly, chief marketing officer for the company.

The ipXcelerator includes two Gigabit Ethernet ports that allow multiple servers to back up data to the appliance at the same time, Farkaly said. In order to ensure plug-and-play installation, it can be preconfigured by the vendor for up to eight partitions, or the capacity can be configured for mirroring or striping.

"We won't allow VARs to configure it, at least initially," he said. "They said they want plug-and-play, and no technical support requirements."

Data can be backed up to the ipXcelerator in block or file formats. When used as part of an iSCSI storage network, data is backed up faster than it would be in normal NAS environments, said Farkaly. "The problem is moving data to tape," he said. "During the backup, the server controls the data. So we invented technology to allow another device to take control."

The ipXcelerator works with backup applications from vendors such as Veritas Software, Legato and Computer Associates.

Okapi's products are currently sold exclusively via solution providers, said Farkaly. In the second half of this year, the company may sign contracts with OEM storage vendors, he added.

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