Center for Human Genetics and Laboratory Diagnostics Opts for SEP Software

The Center for Human Genetics and Laboratory Diagnostics (AHC) has implemented SEP Software Corp.‘s backup and DR solution, sesam, to protect their large-scale heterogeneous environment and provide fast deduplication for the Center’s large quantities of data.

The institute works with the latest laboratory diagnostic technologies in areas such as immune genetics, biochemistry, molecular genetics, pathology and microbiology. Next generation sequencing devices offer the latest measurement technologies to analyze the entire human genome. These practices create large amounts of data generated by high-resolution images. Their size varies from several hundred megabytes to a few gigabyte per image. Each time the devices are used, they produce about 200GB to 1TB of raw data, depending on the device.

Marc Mühlfeld, IT director, AHC, explained: “Data is housed on our network for four to six weeks. We keep it until diagnosis and results are completed. During this time, our data volume continues to increase. Something had to change with our old backup system. We needed to absorb this amount of data so that we could keep the backups at least 30 to 35 days before they are overwritten.“

The Center’s backup solution would need to be compatible with a mix of different platforms – Linux, Windows, MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle and PostresSQL – and be able to perform integrated Bare Metal Recovery tasks on both Windows and Linux servers. They were looking for a solution that would support deduplicated backups to disk and then to tape with automatic replication on GlusterFS.

Due to its ability to protect and restore mixed environments of all sizes, including its wide range of support for Linux, SEP sesam was chosen as the Center’s new backup solution. The software fit into the Center’s IT environment. “Our entire IT infrastructure is covered with SEP sesam. We have a wide range of databases and applications that have special demands on a backup solution. But the advantage with SEP sesam is its ability to backup any environment running on any platform,” explained Mühlfeld. “We took a look at the backup market and, quickly found out, that most vendors are far less scalable.“

The Center benefited from independent storage clustering, flexible backups with a minimal demand of storage volume, lowered space requirements in the server room and reduced electricity costs.

SEP’s Si3 deduplication method divides files into variable sized blocks. The storage medium then compares the stored blocks and indexes any duplicates. “An effective deduplication solution is critical for our business. The data that stays in our network is backed up six times, so I can reduce the amount of data on the backup storage,” said Mühlfeld.

The Center for Human Genetics and Laboratory Medicine can concentrate on their research and diagnostics business with the knowledge that their data is secured with SEP sesam.

Case study