NEC HYDRAstor OpenStorage Suite for Symantec NetBackup

NEC Corporation of America announced the availability of NEC HYDRAstor‘s OpenStorage (OST) Suite for Symantec NetBackup.

The HYDRAstor OST Suite introduces Dynamic I/O, which delivers adaptable front-end load balancing with inline global deduplication, as well as Optimized Copy, which creates WAN-optimized backup images for storage at remote systems and features optimized bandwidth utilization and efficient administration. Customers utilizing NEC HYDRAstor enterprise grid storage platform in conjunction with Symantec NetBackup maximize storage capacity utilization, prevent I/O bottlenecks and optimize overall workload processing productivity.

Flexibility, Scalability and Efficiency
with NEC and Symantec Integrated Solution
NEC HYDRAstor’s OpenStorage Dynamic I/O for Symantec NetBackup dynamically adjusts to workloads and available capacity due to HYDRAstor’s scale-out grid storage platform. Dynamic I/O enables NetBackup to automatically distribute backup jobs across front-end nodes to adapt to changing workloads, while optimizing storage responsiveness and capacity utilization on the backend via NEC’s patent-pending DataRedux inline global data deduplication.

HYDRAstor’s OpenStorage Optimized Copy leverages HYDRAstor’s RepliGrid WAN-optimized replication technology to efficiently copy backup images to remote systems. Optimized Copy automates the copy process and updates the NetBackup catalog, while minimizing required bandwidth and simplifying administration workflows. Multiple systems can leverage the Optimized Copy capability to aggregate disaster recovery protection to create a single scalable system that improves overall productivity and efficiency.

With HYDRAstor’s OST Suite, customers can:

• Maximize storage and network capacity utilization by dynamically distributing workloads to prevent bottlenecks and automatically direct resources where they are needed
• Reduce storage capacity consumption by up to 95% with inline global data deduplication
• Reduce network bandwidth by up to 250:1 or greater, enabling cost-effective disaster recovery
• Reduce backup windows by aggregating data protection resources
• Reduce storage management costs by automating tasks and provisioning
• Extend the value of their current HYDRAstor, NetBackup and OpenStorage investments

NEC HYDRAstor’s unique architecture complements Symantec NetBackup and OpenStorage, and also enhances it by combining these two powerful technologies into a superior long-term infrastructure for secondary storage. HYDRAstor extends the value of the Symantec OST framework by coupling it with scalable storage that flexibly enables NetBackup customers to automate and enhance data protection. HYDRAstor reduces the long-term cost of storage by minimizing storage consumption and simplifying storage management with features including non-disruptive ‘zero-provisioning’ storage, distributed bandwidth and compute capacity along with a self-evolving storage platform that reduces spending on power, cooling, software and staff. HYDRAstor’s simple deployment, self-tuning storage, self-healing and optimized performance and capacity enables in-place refresh that ends the need for data migration and enables storage for the next 100 years.

"With rapid data growth and the need for additional data protection, businesses are looking for a solution that can offer this increased protection without incurring additional bandwidth and capacity costs," said Benjamin S. Woo, vice president of IDC’s Enterprise Storage Systems research. "The partnership between NEC HYDRAstor and Symantec OST will help companies maximize storage and network capacity while reducing cost and bandwidth. The intelligence built into solutions like NEC’s HYDRAstor will make it possible for Symantec NetBackup customers to improve operational efficiency and enhance availability."

"The NEC HYDRAstor and Symantec NetBackup partnership offers customers a smarter solution for data protection," said Brian Dye, vice president, Product Management, Symantec. "NEC’s HYDRAstor OpenStorage Suite extends the value of the Symantec OST framework, enabling highly distributed I/O processing along with massively scalable backup solutions. With the integration of Symantec NetBackup OST and NEC HYDRAstor solutions, our customers can now benefit from increased data protection and maximum storage and network capacity utilization all while reducing their bandwidth and storage capacity costs."

"We looked to extend the capacity, scalability and flexibility of NEC HYDRAstor and Symantec NetBackup solutions, to provide an opportunity for our customers to better leverage their data protection investments," said Gideon Senderov, director of product management and technical marketing, NEC Corporation of America. "With HYDRAstor’s unique grid architecture, Symantec NetBackup customers can now benefit from unprecedented scalability, which provides the assurance of effective and efficient data protection for years to come. Our partnership also delivers intelligent front-end load balancing for NetBackup users, which maximizes backend capacity optimization. Customers will realize immediate cost savings, greater operational efficiency and bottleneck prevention — these powerful benefits are realized exclusively with the HYDRAstor solution."

Product Availability
NEC HYDRAstor’s OpenStorage Suite for Symantec NetBackup is available immediately. The HYDRAstor OpenStorage plug-in along with the Dynamic I/O capability are available at no additional charge for existing HYDRAstor customers and early adopters with an active support agreement, to encourage wide adoption of this new feature and to further enhance HYDRAstor’s value as well as extend the investment protection delivered by an architecture delivering storage for the next 100 years. The Optimized Copy functionality can be licensed on a per Accelerator Node basis, allowing customers to license the capability for those portions of the system for which it is needed.