Sanwa Comtec Distributing LaserVault UBD Tapeless Backup for IBM i and Linux,

Electronic Storage Corporation (LaserVault) expands its global presence by partnering with Sanwa Comtec KK, a Premier IBM Business Partner, to offer the LaserVault UBD tapeless backup solution for IBM i and Linux, in Japan and India.

A backup solutions provider in the midrange market in Japan, Sanwa currently sells the LaserVault Backup TCP/IP solution. Adding UBD to their product offering enables them to meet the needs of customers looking for a high-speed tapeless backup solution for their IBM i and Linux hosts.

“I believe this new product, LaserVault UBD, has great possibilities and we want to extensively develop the market in tandem with LaserVault,” explains Shinichiro Kakizawa, CEO, Sanwa Comtec.

The GM of Sanwa’s solution sales department, Satoshi Tojoh, adds: “That the transfer speed of LaserVault UBD exceeds LTO5 is very attractive and UBD is the product that responds to the user needs in the era of big data.“

UBD, or Universal Backup Device, was created by LaserVault as an alternative to physical tape media, for backing up IBM i (AS/400, iSeries, System i) and Linux systems. Connecting via FC, the UBD appliance has a throughput speed of up to 409MB/second, outpacing the fastest tape drive. It has made it an option for businesses using tape and looking to improve their backup processes by eliminating tape, achieving shorter backup windows and faster restores. With its use of existing IBM I commands, such as SAVLIB and SAVOBJ, it is designed to be implemented with virtually zero downtime.

As industry experts continue to espouse the benefits of disk-to-disk backups for first-tier recovery, UBD offers an alternative to expensive VTLs. UBD emulates a tape drive so it can be used in conjunction with tapes for a hybrid backup solution. This gives users the benefits of D2D for onsite backups and recovery, and enables them to keep tape for long-term and archival storage.

“We sincerely appreciate our continued relationship with Sanwa Comtec,” says Brad Jensen, president, Electronic Storage Corporation. “Through their commitment to provide their customers with the best service and best systems, they have established themselves as the top provider of midrange solutions in Japan. They are genuinely a pleasure to work with and a great example for others to follow. The UBD solution will allow them to offer their customers a robust solution to help solve their backup and recovery challenges.“

Nobuyuki Arikawa, senior MD, Sanwa, states: “LaserVault UBD adds options for BCP and DR. Product families that support IBM i and Power Linux have a good market here (in Japan).“

And as their LaserVault Backup sales continue to grow, they are adding UBD as another backup solution to provide to their customers who want a solution without a huge price tag.

Sanwa offers LaserVault Backup as a stand-alone product, as well as incorporated with their managed services DR solution. This solution was recently named a finalist at the IBM Beacon Awards in the Outstanding BC and Services category.

One example of Sanwa’s success with LaserVault Backup is found in this customer case: A mid-sized oil and gas company with about 190 employees was seeking a DR solution for their IBM i servers. After considering several options they chose Sanwa Comtec’s Remote Data Protection Solution that combines IBM RDP, IBM System i DR Express service, and LaserVault Backup. One of the deciding factors was that the solution could be quickly implemented. In addition, there was no added workload for operators due to the fact that LVB has no impact on the conventional operation procedure because of how simple it is to use. LVB’s data compression reduces the data transfer so that the running cost for communication links can be saved. The executive MD of the company is satisfied with the reasonable cost and short implementation time and the IT department also values the solution. The customer is active in using the latest IT technology, which includes LaserVault, to grow their business and to contribute to the local society.