Arkeia Network Backup Version 9.0 Available

Arkeia Software released Network Backup Version 9.0 with Progressive Deduplication technology. Other key features in Version 9 include two-phase backups for shorter backup windows, agent-side AES-256 encryption for security, and enhancements to the Web user interface.

Progressive Deduplication Is Content-Aware
Arkeia’s progressive deduplication is based on advanced algorithms that constitute an advance beyond fixed-block and variable-block deduplication. Arkeia’s progressive deduplication accelerates backups, shortens backup windows, and reduces the volume of stored data.

Block sizes for progressive deduplication are optimized for each specific file-type. Thanks to the cooperation of Arkeia’s worldwide community, Arkeia scanned many millions of files measuring deduplication rates at multiple window sizes to determine the optimal block size for each file type. Arkeia aggregated the results to build a list of optimal block sizes for hundreds of file types.

Progressive Deduplication Ideal for Virtual Environments
Arkeia’s progressive deduplication works in tandem with Arkeia’s backup agents for vStorage and Hyper-V, and for snapshots of Citrix Xen. Virtual environments have natural data redundancy because each virtual machine maintains it own copy of an operating systems and applications. By eliminating this redundancy among virtual disk images (VMDKs), backups of virtual environments are faster and the resulting backup sets are more highly compressed. By accommodating the natural reorganization of file system blocks within a VMDK image, Arkeia enjoys compression ratios on VMDKs that are 40% better than variable-block deduplication.

Source-side Deduplication Reduces Network Load
Unlike fixed-block deduplication, the first generation and most common technology for deduplication, Arkeia’s progressive deduplication accommodates data inserts into files, as well as file appending and modification. The result is a shorter backup window with more highly compressed backup sets.

Progressive deduplication can be performed at the source (the computer to backed up) or at the target (any Arkeia media server). Source deduplication is recommended because it accelerates backups by reducing the volume of data sent over the network during each backup operation.

Hosting Providers Leverage
Progressive Deduplication to Reduce Costs
"Today, as a hosting provider, we provide backup service to our customers. Each day we backup 200 servers and 7.5 TB of data with Arkeia Network Backup. Progressive deduplication, new in Arkeia Network Backup v9.0, has reduced this data volume by a factor of 5, making our service still more efficient and profitable," said Fabien Dachicourt, Technical Director at Pictime Datacenter, a French hosting provider and Arkeia customer since 2007. "Arkeia’s impressive source-side compression rates considerably shorten our backup windows and reduce disk storage requirements."

“Arkeia acquired Kadena Systems in November 2009. But rather than try to integrate our two applications, we wanted to do the job right," said Bill Evans, CEO of Arkeia Software. “We invested in a rewrite of the Kadena algorithms so that the result was one, seamless product. We’re proud that we’ve been able to integrate Kadena’s patented, next generation progressive deduplication technology into Arkeia Network Backup."

Deduplication is delivered with standard installation packages for both Arkeia backup servers and backup agents.

Availabiliy and Pricing
Arkeia Network Backup v9.0 is available for download. Arkeia Network Backup server software starts at $800 for a perpetual license and at $320 for a one-year subscription. The Arkeia Deduplication Option is priced per media server at $2,000 for a perpetual license and at $800 for a one-year subscription. All products include one year of maintenance with free license updates and unlimited access to Arkeia technical support.

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Arkeia Network Backup Version 9.0
With "progressive" de-dupe, for virtualized environment
Arkeia Acquires Kadena to Get De-Dupe
Sorry, it’s not Asigra as we bet.