ExaGrid Penetrates 50 Data Domain SMBs

ExaGrid Systems, Inc. announced
that 50 companies and organizations previously using EMC Data Domain have
selected ExaGrid’s disk backup with deduplication to either replace their Data
Domain system or to handle new growth and projects where they needed more
cost-effective scalability.

The key milestone of Data Domain systems displaced underscores growing
awareness of the scalability and cost of ownership problems over time
associated with Data Domain’s front-end server architecture, which are solved
by ExaGrid’s GRID architecture and approach to disk backup scalability.

With solutions that have a controller/disk shelf architecture such as Data
Domain, organizations must add disk shelves as data grows, which means backup
windows expand because there are not more deduplication processing resources
added to support the increased workload, only more disk.

Eventually, backup windows grow to the point where the front-end controller can
no longer support the workload and must be replaced with a more powerful
controller through a costly forklift upgrade.

In contrast, scalable GRID architecture adds full
servers-including memory, processor, disk, and bandwidth-to maintain
fast backup performance and a fixed length backup window as data increases.
Customers can purchase a system that will scale to handle
future data growth, keep the backup window from expanding and avoid costly
forklift upgrades associated with the front-end server/disk shelf architecture.
In many system configurations, ExaGrid disk backup with deduplication is about
50% the cost of Data Domain in system and maintenance costs over a 3-year
period.

Among the 50 organizations that have either replaced their Data Domain system
with ExaGrid, or have added ExaGrid’s appliance to an existing backup
environment still using Data Domain, are the following companies:

• Bollinger Inc.: The
  insurance broker had been backing up its data with an EMC Data Domain solution.
  The company needed to be able to retain 12 weeks of data for DR, but could only
  keep two weeks of data on its system. Realizing that expansion of the Data
  Domain system would be cost prohibitive, Bollinger decided to install two
  ExaGrid systems to back up its data. The company achieved superior data
  deduplication ratios and offsite replication performance with the ExaGrid
  system, and ExaGrid’s scalable approach ensures that Bollinger can meet its
  backup needs without costly forklift upgrades in the future.
• Greenwich Central School District: The storage needs of the school
  district outgrew its existing Data Domain system, and the IT team could only
  achieve five to seven days of data retention. After replacing the Data Domain
  system with ExaGrid, the IT team saw deduplication ratios as high as 40:1, and
  increased its retention to about 25 days.
• RFI Communications and Security Systems:
  The IT team at RFI was backing up data to a Data Domain unit, but when data
  grew to the point where it required an expansion of the system, the company was
  facing a costly ‘forklift upgrade.’ 
  Instead, RFI replaced the Data Domain system with ExaGrid, reaching
  deduplication ratios of as much as 63:1. In addition, the system can scale as
  data grows.

Bill Andrews, president and CEO of ExaGrid Systems, said: "These 50 organizations share many of the
same pain points that make ExaGrid’s approach more attractive compared to EMC
Data Domain. As data grows and the front-end server of the Data Domain system
can’t keep up, the forklift upgrades to higher performance systems become
increasingly costly. Because ExaGrid’s GRID-based system grows seamlessly with
you, the total costs over just 3 years can be 50% less with ExaGrid compared
EMC Data Domain, which frees up valuable budget dollars you can use for other
important IT initiatives."

Tom Godon, assistant VP and network engineer for Bollinger Inc.,
said: "Retention was a major issue
for us, and when we realized we would need to add more disk to our Data Domain
system, we decided to look for alternatives. The ExaGrid system was about half
the cost of a new, comparable EMC Data Domain system. In addition to the
improved retention and better transmission speeds between sites, the ExaGrid
system is easy to maintain and has a user-friendly interface compared to the
more complex UI of the Data Domain system. With the ExaGrid’s scalability, our
backup needs are met for the foreseeable future."