FalconStor RecoverTrac for DR Automation

FalconStor Software, Inc. announced the availability of RecoverTrac technology, a disaster recovery (DR) automation tool included as a standard feature of FalconStor Continuous Data Protector (CDP) – the platform for realizing FalconStor’s vision of service-oriented data protection.

The RecoverTrac tool is a DR automation solution to bring service-oriented recovery to both physical and virtual server infrastructures. The RecoverTrac feature automates complex, time-consuming and error-prone failover and failback operations of systems, applications, services and entire datacenters, making FalconStor CDP a comprehensive disk-based data protection system for backup and DR available.

Most DR solutions focus on replicating data to a remote DR site, leaving IT staff with the complex task of reconstituting servers, applications, network configurations and replicated data into a functional set of data center services for business continuity. The RecoverTrac tool not only replicates data, but stages the recovery of complete services – thus facilitating service-oriented data protection (SODP) – by automating the resumption of servers, storage, networks and applications in a pre-determined, coordinated process. The RecoverTrac solution works with all operating systems, virtual machines and networks; and it supports physical-to-physical, physical-to-virtual and virtual-to-virtual recovery operations.

"FalconStor’s RecoverTrac feature has allowed us to significantly decrease the amount of time needed to activate or test our disaster recovery site," said Jeff Hutchinson, director of information technology at Mendes & Mount, LLP. "The ability to easily create, store and rerun RecoverTrac jobs greatly reduces the need for manual intervention. Previously, we had to create a lengthy and cumbersome step-by-step manual for our DR procedure, but the RecoverTrac tool has simplified this to single, simple page."

In addition to its primary recovery mode, the RecoverTrac technology offers a test mode and cloning capability. Test mode allows every aspect of the recovery process to be executed without impact on production systems. Cloning capability allows a copy of application data to be used for other business purposes.

"The beauty of the RecoverTrac solution is the way it facilitates a smooth failover of services to the DR site and failback to the home data center, which is a daunting process to manage manually," said Shawn Mears, network engineer at GDL Consulting, a FalconStor managed service provider. "In addition, the RecoverTrac tool’s test mode allows us to perform regular test runs of recovery jobs for our clients who ask for it, enhancing our service offering to customers."

RecoverTrac is available as a standard feature of FalconStor CDP and FalconStor Network Storage Server (NSS) at no additional cost.