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LAN-Free
Backup
Level 1 Automation
LAN-Free
backup is the first application of automated storage
backup using the EXTENDED COPY command over a Fibre
Channel SAN. The objective of LAN-Free backup is to
increase backup performance in the overall storage system.
It does this by eliminating the need to transfer data
over the LAN, and then through a file or application
server.
This
method is relatively inexpensive to implement, but can
have larger than expected operating costs. These costs
are incurred surreptitiously through a combination of
distributed software complexity, high management overhead,
reduced LAN performance, slower backup speeds, and most
importantly, the backup is wholly dependent on a series
of slow connections through a network infrastructure
that was not designed for it, and that lacks any genuine
path resilience or automated reliability, The backup
is effectively reliant upon on a chain of events being
completed successfully by a series of components whose
design purpose is to distribute services to users, not
perform mindless transfers of block data.
A
typical implementation of a LAN-Free backup would use
a tape server, tape library, and disk-based storage
all attached directly to Fibre Channel infrastructure.
LAN-Free
backup technology gives multiple servers access to a
single tape library connected to the SAN, either by
using a bridge device such as the ATTO FibreBridge or
the Chaparral Storage Router that can also act as a
hardware buffer for incoming data, or directly through
a Fibre Channel-ready tape system. All backup operations
are now routed through the gigabit-speed Fibre Channel
SAN rather than the conventional Ethernet LAN.
A
new generation of SAN-aware backup software supports
this architecture. The backup software, being SAN-aware,
coordinates between servers to allocate tape library
resources to share tape libraries and eliminates data
movement over the LAN.
The
advantage of the LAN-Free backup approach is increased
throughput to the tape devices, a reduction in LAN traffic,
quicker backup completion, and enhanced flexibility
through the use of existing assets, keeping cost of
entry to backup over SAN architectures lower.
LAN-Free
backup can be viewed as an upgrade to the existing tape
storage sub-system, rather than as an entirely new installation.
This approach still requires a backup server with appropriate
software to manage the backup strategy, but combined
with the consolidated storage system, can vastly reduce
the complexity of administering the backup.
By
having the ability to incorporate existing components
within the new SAN environment, LAN-Free backup can
extend the lifetime of equipment and software that is
migrated to the new SAN, and, as it can be significantly
quicker to implement than serverless backup, it offers
a greater return on investment.
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