Backup Exec 3600 R3 - Technical White Paper

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You can download the full technical white paper below – it is intended to assist partners and customers as they implement data protection solutions based on the Backup Exec™ 3600 R3 Appliance. This brief will explore the following topics as they relate to the Backup Exec™ 3600 R3 Appliance release:

1. Business Value
2. Underlying Principles
3. VMware Integration
4. Hyper-V Integration
5. Virtual Conversion Features
6. Built-in Data Deduplication
7. Recovery Capabilities
8. Monitoring and Management
9. Example Appliance Scenarios
10. Hardware Configuration
11. Licensing Overview
12. Notes and Considerations

In today’s complex world of information technology and data protection, there are many challenges and considerations associated with building, implementing, and supporting a backup solution. These challenges often lead to delayed projects, overspent budgets, and sometimes even failure. For these and many other factors, organizations are seeking a simple appliance-based solution to reduce complexity, cost, and associated risks.

Complexity of a Traditional Backup Solution

Building a traditional backup solution involves the acquisition and assembly of multiple component parts, such as a server, an operating system, storage devices and media, backup software, and of course multiple warranty and maintenance contracts. As a result, the traditional backup solution can include a very high level of complexity.

For some environments, it is also necessary to define and manage a backup strategy for remote offices, which can be further complicated if technical personnel are not available at remote offices to manage backup processes. In addition, as IT environments continue to adopt virtualization, yet another layer of complexity is the need to implement a backup solution that matches the needs of both physical and virtualized server resources.

Cost of a Traditional Backup Solution

In addition to the challenges and complexity, there are significant costs and time investments associated with creating a traditional backup solution. These include the following:

• Backup software costs
• Backup software agent and option costs
• Backup server and storage hardware costs
• Hardware and software installation and configuration costs
• Costs associated with managing removable media at remote offices

In some environments, costs are unnecessarily compounded if separate backup solutions are implemented for physical and virtual resources.

In addition to these visible costs, there are hidden costs along the way. As such, the combined monetary and time cost of implementing a traditional backup solution can be significant.

Risks of a Traditional Backup Solution

Finally, there’s the additional problem of risk that comes from constructing a backup solution comprised of software and hardware components from different vendors. These risks include:

Hardware and Software Component Compatibility

Solutions built using different hardware and software components from different vendors may or may not work together properly.

Backup Performance

Presuming the different components of the backup solution function together, performance may not be optimal. In order to achieve acceptable performance, it may be necessary to troubleshoot, reconfigure, or even replace one or more components of the backup solution.

Technical Support Time to Resolution

When dealing with a backup solution comprised of hardware and software components from different vendors, troubleshooting and resolving problems can prove difficult. Different vendors will point fingers at each other while the issue is investigated, costing the customer time and money.

The Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance

The Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance mitigates the problems of complexity, cost, and risk associated with traditional backup solutions by delivering a combined hardware and software solution in a single package.

Complete Virtual and Physical Protection in a Single Solution

The Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance delivers complete data and application protection for both virtual and physical server resources, including optimized support for the latest VMware and Hyper-V platforms. For VMware environments, the Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance includes deep integration with the VMware vStorage API, ensuring VMware virtual machines are protected using the latest technology available.

Using the Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance, customers and partners can protect both physical and virtual server resources in their environment and avoid the unnecessary costs and headaches associated with implementing and managing separate backup solutions for each.

Designed for Virtual Environments

Partners and customers who want to protect their VMware or Hyper-V virtual environments understand the frustration and time involved with legacy backup technologies that are not designed specifically for protecting virtual environments. Legacy solutions such as these include several limitations, such as:

• Impacting virtual environment performance when processing backups inside virtual machines
• Requiring the shutdown of guest virtual machines in order to protect them completely
• Requiring separate backups for virtualized applications, such as Microsoft SQL, Active Directory, SharePoint, and Exchange
• Requiring the manual configuration of backup agents and policies for new virtual machines
• Requiring slow file-by-file backups that capture redundant data in each guest virtual machine over and over
• Requiring long restores of an entire guest virtual machine in order to recover a single file

The Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance includes features and technologies specifically designed for modern virtualized environments, including the VMware vSphere platform and the Microsoft Hyper-V platform. These technologies enable the Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance to offer features.

The Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance is ready, right out of the box, to properly and completely protect both VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V virtual infrastructures.

The Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance represents an effective, easy-to-buy, and easy-to-use data and application protection solution for small and medium-sized customers who are partially or fully virtualized.

The Backup Exec™ 3600 R3 Appliance is a 1U server system that arrives from the factory with Backup Exec™ 2014 software pre-installed. The Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance is designed to be a complete data and application backup solution for small and medium-sized environments, and includes the ability to directly protect both physical and virtual servers without the need for a proxy server.

The Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance has been rigorously and thoroughly tested by Symantec to ensure optimal compatibility and performance.

Included Software

Backup Exec™ 2014

The Backup Exec™ software included on the Backup Exec™ 3600 R3 Appliance is based upon Backup Exec™ 2014. Both the core Backup Exec™ software, as well as the agent software required to protect physical servers, are included in the Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance.

Windows Storage Server 2008 R2

The operating system included on the Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance is Windows Storage Server 2008 R2. The Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 operating system ensures optimal security and stability in production environments.

Update Enabled

Both primary software components of the Backup Exec™ 3600 Appliance, Backup Exec™ 2014 and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2, are update-enabled. Critical patches and hot fixes are automatically downoaded, and the administrator controls the schedule by which they are installed. This self-update capability ensures that the appliance remains secure and functional in an ever-evolving security environment.

Download the full White Paper below.