Storage Backup Appliances Make For Easy SAN Design

Breece Hill iStoRA Disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T) backup solutions, which blend disk and tape into one appliance, offer a two-prong approach to data security. By adding more cartridges, tape storage has infinite capacity and tapes can be brought off-site for safekeeping. In a D2D2T appliance, data is first backed up to disk and then transferred to tape.

Breece Hill&'s iStoRA is designed with small to midsize businesses and departmental requirements in mind. The unit integrates hard disk storage, tape backup, network connectivity and backup software in a server that&'s easy to install, use and maintain. The 4U iStoRA appliance can accommodate up to 3.2 Tbytes of hard disk storage and a tape library up to 13 Tbytes in capacity.

Pricing for iStoRA starts at $17,995 for the G3S model, which is powered by a 3GHz Pentium 4 processor. The iStoRA G3S contains one HP LTO-2 drive and a 2-Tbyte disk array consisting of eight 250-Gbyte SATA hard drives. The iStoRA G3X, priced at $28,395, houses an LTO-3 tape drive, which doubles the capacity of the tape library to 4 Tbytes. It also includes eight 400-Gbyte SATA hard drives, offering a total disk capacity of 3.2 Tbytes. The G3X model is powered by dual 3.6GHz Xeon processors. Both iStoRA models include 2 Gbytes of memory (expandable to 4 Gbytes), a CD-ROM drive and Windows 2003 Server.

iStoRA can be combined with the solution provider&'s backup software of choice, whether it&'s software that&'s already in place or a new package being implemented. Back in June, EMC Dantz qualified Breece Hill&'s iStoRA server as an appropriate platform for EMC Dantz Retrospect for D2D2T data protection within Windows, Linux and Macintosh environments. iStoRA also supports backup software from BakBone, Computer Associates International, CommVault, Microsoft and Veritas Software.

Breece Hill&'s channel program has two levels: professional and expert. The former must employ at least one technical person and one sales representative and earn at least 25 percent of its revenue from storage-focused sales. Expert-level solution providers must have a technical staff of at least two and a sales staff of two; storage-focused revenue must be at least 40 percent. Benefits under the first level include presales and post-sales support, tech support, a partner site, reseller incentives, opportunity registration, marketing support, sales and technical training and evaluation units. Benefits under the second level include all of the above plus qualified leads, MDF funds, a demo unit purchase program and reseller incentives. Margins typically range from 25 percent to 30 percent.

Iomega StorCenter ProServers, and the users they serve, always need more storage space, so installing a NAS device eliminates downtime. Iomega&'s new 1U StorCenter Pro NAS 300r/320GB provides 320 Gbytes of network storage, RAID protection and hot-swap Serial-ATA drives. It&'s powered by a 2.8GHz Celeron processor with 256 Mbytes of memory and runs Windows Storage Server 2003. Solution providers can quickly install this plug-and-play NAS device into any size network to instantly provide more storage space. It costs $1,999.

The StorCenter Pro contains two 160-Gbyte SATA hard drives that can be configured as one large storage pool of 320 Gbytes or in a RAID 1 mirror configuration of approximately 152 Gbytes. The unit connects to a network via Gigabit Ethernet. It also includes three USB 2.0 ports, one serial port for UPS support, one PS2 mouse port and a VGA port for troubleshooting purposes.

Bundled software includes Iomega Automatic Backup Pro with unlimited client licenses, Computer Associates eTrust Antivirus 7.1 for Windows and a discovery and Web management utility. Trial versions of CA ARCserve Backup r11.1, CA Backup for Laptops and Desktops r11.1, CA High Availability r11.1 and StringBean WinTarget v.1.2 are also included. Iomega&'s StorCenter Pro is sold primarily through the company&'s channel program, which offers two VAR levels. Authorized-level VARs must sell $50,000 in Iomega products per quarter, while Premier-level VARs must sell $100,000 per quarter. Both levels have access to Iomega&'s help team. Margins typically range between 20 percent and 30 percent. Authorized VARs receive an additional 3 percent discount, while Premier VARs get an additional 5 percent discount.