dsmISI

Scale-Out Storage based backup

General Storage dsmISI is a load balancer unleashing the seamless scalability of Dell PowerScale for backup solutions. Backup is the most capacity and performance hungry use of storage imaginable. Almost all data created or altered has to be backed up, so backup storage has to be able to cope with constantly growing requirements in terms of scalability and throughput.

Scale-Out NAS storage is the ideal architecture to deal with these requirements because it can adapt to ever growing demands without having to shift workloads across an increasing number of separate devices and without having to deploy complex SAN infrastructure. Dell PowerScale is the undisputed leader in Scale-Out NAS. The challenge is to make Scale-Out NAS usable for common backup solutions such as IBM Storage Protect (aka Spectrum Protect aka TSM) and Veeam Backup & Replication or native backup functions provided by data intensive applications such as Oracle Databases. Native functions for load balancing of Scale-Out NAS focus on distributing connections of hundreds or thousands of clients but cannot serve the required throughput to very few but very demanding servers which is the typical profile of backup infrastructure.

dsmISI is addressing these specific requirements for the following backup solutions:

dsmISI for Veeam

Veeam's popular Backup & Replication product benefits massively from the use of Scale-Out storage with dsmISI

01

Unmatched ease of use

Attaching and scaling Veeam repositories in physical or virtual repository server deployments has never been easier than with dsmISI for Veeam - seamlessly growing from just a few hundred terabyte to dozens of petabyte simply by adding hardware and without having to re-organize backup jobs or repository extents.

02

FastClone and immutability on NAS storage

Use Veeam FastClone and immutability on Scale-Out NAS storage with dsmISI for Veeam - functionality otherwise only provided on unscalable local or SAN attached block storage solutions. FastClone links incremental backups together to a new, synthetic full backup without using any additional capacity or having to move any data. Immutability makes backup files un-changeable for all regular users on a repository server, providing additional malware protection.

03

Support for unlimited backup file sizes

PowerScale normally limits the maximum size of files to 16 TB - a size which may be exceeded by Veeam B&R. With dsmISI, PowerScale can handle Veeam backup files of any size without limits.

04

Very high stream throughput rates

dsmISI provides streaming throughputs far beyond the limitations of a single PowerScale node, resulting in an optimal usage of the entirety of a PowerScale cluster's maximum performance even if the number of parallel streams is (typical for Veeam workload profiles) relatively low.

05

High Availability

Repository extents can be mounted on any Veeam repository server. If a server fails, access to data can easily be restored by moving the associated extents to another server without the need for re-configuration of moving of data with a single command.

06

Unmatched ransomware protection

dsmISI for Veeam is fully integrated with PowerScale SnapshotIQ. PowerScale hardware snapshots contain un-alterable, consistent point-in-time copies of Veeam repository data which cannot be encrypted or deleted even if an attacker gains root access to any part of the Veeam infrastructure including the repository servers themselves.

Links to more information about dsmISI for Veeam
  Product flyer >
  Dell solution brief >
  Veeam Ready program certificate >
  Video >
  Documentation >

dsmISI for IBM Storage Protect

IBM Storage Protect still is one of the major players in enterprise level backup. With its wide range of supported operating systems, applications and devices, it is especially popular in large scale IT operations

01

Scalable enough to replace tape

Many IBM Storage Protect installations originated in the days when it was still called TSM or even ADSM. One of the biggest selling points at the time was its ability to maintain incremental forever backups on physical tape with a minimum of synthetic activity and full flexibility regarding complex data retention rules. With the advent of deduplication and a closing cost gap between tape and disk, more restore friendly storage solutions become feasible. The issue is finding storage that scales as easily or better than tape does. With dsmISI, Dell PowerScale is that solution.

02

Fully transparent load balancing

When designing and maintaining sequential file and container based storage pools, the last thing an administrator needs is storage that has capacity and/or throughput limits for any individual unit the pool may over time have to consist of. With dsmISI, all data resides in the same path and additional storage hardware in the form of additional PowerScale nodes benefits all pools without the administrator ever having to change anything about their stgpool layout.

03

Coordinated balancing for multiple server instances

Whether you are using PowerScale from just a single server instance or hundreds of instances spread across dozens of servers - dsmISI makes sure that the entire throughput your PowerScale offers is accessible to all instances without having to manually adjust workloads and schedules.

04

Very high throughput

Storage Protect workloads are extremely diverse, ranging from streams that require many hundreds of MB/s to thousands of sessions trickling incremental backup data of just a few KB/s to storage. dsmISI makes sure that all resulting data streams are perfectly balanced across all connections of a PowerScale system.

05

High Availability and Flexibility

As most other NAS solutions, PowerScale offers extremely simple modes of access. Any Storage Protect instance can use its data as long as it is on the same network and has been granted permission. In combination with GSCC and dsmISI assures seamlessly uninterrupted operation of Storage Protect servers under all circumstances, regardless of SAN infrastructure limitations.

06

Unmatched ransomware protection

dsmISI is fully integrated with PowerScale SnapshotIQ. PowerScale hardware snapshots contain un-alterable, consistent point-in-time copies of storage pool data which cannot be encrypted or deleted even if an attacker gains root access to a Storage Protect instance or the underlying operating system.

More information about dsmISI for IBM Storage Protect
  Product flyer >
  Dell solution brief >
  Video >
  Documentation >

dsmISI for Oracle RMAN

RMAN has been the major means of backing up Oracle Databases from the very beginning. Backup products such as IBM Storage Protect can be used to provide a scalable backend for RMAN but they introduce an additional layer which has to be purchased and maintained. With dsmISI for Oracle, RMAN uses its native capabilities of writing its backup data to disk in a completely transparent yet highly optimized way to Dell PowerScale.

01

Extremely high performance for Backup and Restore

dsmISI for Oracle RMAN uses the full potential of an entire Dell PowerScale cluster to backup and restore data. Rather than just one connection to a single PowerScale node, a backup or restore uses multiple nodes simultaneously, leading to throughputs that are many times higher than they could be without dsmISI.

02

Complete transparency

There is no need to fine-tune RMAN backup scripts or change existing workflows. With dsmISI, multiple channels and backup pieces pointing at the same PowerScale export are automatically redirected to the least busy nodes in a cluster without ever having to know the cluster's layout and without having to adjust any script when the cluster is scaled up.

03

Uses Oracle's own NFS stack

Oracle's Direct NFS offers a range of soecific advantages compared to regular NFS which makes it the stack of choice for Oracle Database backups. dsmISI is automatically using Direct NFS for all data transport of Oracle Backups and Restore to and from a PowerScale cluster in the backend.

04

Fully protected by Dell SnapshotIQ

Integration with Dell SnapshotIQ provides transparent data protection for backup data. Even breaching a database server as a root user would not enable an attacker to destroy the running database and all accessible backup data on disk because existing backups are protected directly on PowerScale through dsmISI.

05

Geogaphic and device redundancy

dsmISI for Oracle RMAN can handle connections to multiple PowerScale clusters. Redundancy across those clusters can be achieved either by integrating PowerScale mirroring (SyncIQ), backing up data multiple times to multiple clusters or alternating full/differential backups between clusters while backing up logs to all clusters. Either way, databases will be fully recoverable even in the event of a large scale disaster wiping out an entire IT center.

06

Offloading to Tape

Since PowerScale is a NAS device, existing backup files can be offloaded to other media such as tape by an external data mover. General Storage provides optional offloading or copying to tape libraries via the open LTFS format for long term backups that are not necessarily required to be directly accessible. Restoring that data can either happen directly from tape via LTFS or with a two stage process, the first of which is copying backup files back to disk before restoring them via RMAN.

Links to more information about dsmISI for Oracle RMAN
  Product flyer >
  Dell solution brief >
  Documentation >