Lawndale Christian Health Center Implements Two-Site ExaGrid Backup Systems

ExaGrid Systems, Inc. announced Lawndale Christian Health Center (LCHC) has implemented a two-site ExaGrid disk-based backup system with data deduplication to improve its backup times and DR operations.

The system, which integrates with the healthcare provider’s existing Veritas Backup Exec software, has enabled improvements in backup time while providing greater peace of mind in the event of a disaster.

LCHC is a community-based nonprofit organization, founded in 1984. Located in Chicago, IL, providing quality primary care services without regard for a patient’s ability to pay and serves as a community resource for eliminating health disparities. LCHC’s 50 plus healthcare providers treat over 119,000 patients each year at three sites located in the Lawndale area.

LCHC’s IT department was backing up its data to tape. However, as the healthcare provider grew, long backup times were making it nearly impossible to get backups completed during off hours, when the facility is closed.

“Our clinic is open on weekends, and it was extremely difficult to get our full backups completed with tape,” said Zachary Taliaferro, manager of IT, Lawndale Christian Health Center. “We were also concerned about DR. With tape, there’s no guarantee that the data will be there when you need it. We decided to look for an alternative backup approach that would enable us to stay within our backup window and improve our ability to recover from a disaster.“

After looking at multiple options, LCHC purchased a two-site ExaGrid disk-based backup system with data deduplication. Data is replicated each night from the primary ExaGrid system to the second system for redundancy.

“We’ve been using Veritas Backup Exec for a long time, so we needed a solution that would work seamlessly with it,” said Taliaferro. “The ExaGrid works extremely well with Backup Exec and the two products together make for a very powerful solution. The ExaGrid appliance is very intuitive to operate, and it saves me lots of time because I don’t have to manage tape or juggle backup jobs anymore. It really is a ‘set it and forget it’ type of product.“

Now, each night, LCHC runs multiple backup jobs at once so backups are more efficient and less time consuming. It can get all of its backup jobs done in less than eight hours. Plus, using ExaGrid’s data deduplication the healthcare provider is able to maximize storage capacity and can store and retain more data for longer periods to meet stringent regulatory requirements.

“The ExaGrid is a terrific product,” added Taliaferro. “We were in a terrible spot in regards to our backup times and our DR situation, but installing the ExaGrid system has solved both problems for us. We no longer have issues meeting our backup window, and we’re able to get complete backups each and every time. The ExaGrid system has done everything we wanted and more.“

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