Migration & Replication
PoINT Storage Manager – Data Management, Migration & Protection
Over the past decade the volume of data which has had to be stored and maintained for extended periods has been rising continuously. In an effort to meet these storage demands, IT departments have deployed a diverse range storage devices and technologies in a heterogeneous storage environment. Over the lifetime of the data this often results in the usage of an obsolete storage technology which places the data at risk and creates a competitive disadvantage. Sooner or later, all companies must migrate data from an obsolete storage system to a contemporary one. Obsolete technologies, failure of the manufacturer, an uncertain support situation or insufficient storage capacity are typical reasons for displacing an existing storage system. Carrying out the necessary data migration without data loss or access interruption is an immense challenge for IT-departments. Regulatory requirements and the risk of loss of business critical data may cause extreme financial damage and, in the worst case, this can reach amounts jeopardizing the existence of a company.
Overview
PoINT Storage Manager is a universal storage management solution, which not only supports a combination of all contemporary mass storage technologies but also provides functions which meet the requirement for migration of data from existing storage hardware. The product was especially designed for the seamless data migration from obsolete storage systems like MO jukeboxes to new systems with state-of-the-art technologies such as Blu-ray Disc (BD), LTO Tape, NetApp Appliances and all hard disk based systems. This is realized by the PoINT Virtual File System (“PoINT VFS”), an innovative new concept first implemented in this solution. PoINT Storage Manager makes it possible to rapidly migrate valuable data to a sustainable data storage solution, even if the displaced hardware is operated by other software.
PoINT Storage Manager meets these requirements first by implementing the PoINT VFS interface, which virtualizes the existing and new storage systems seamlessly and maintains transparent access for both users and applications to data on the existing systems. It integrates the existing and new storage devices without disturbing the application’s access to all existing information or its ability to store new data.
Policy-based Data Management
PoINT Storage Manager then performs an automated background migration of existing data from the displaced device to the new device, so that the displaced storage system may be retired. The capability to perform this migration with little effort over a controlled period of time while maintaining continuous transparent access has a significant advantage over other solutions. The user determines by definable rules which data is to be migrated and whether or how long respectively, the superseded storage system shall be in operation. Migrations will be carried out automatically in the background, and most importantly without effecting clients and applications access to all information.
Backup, Migration, and Archive
PoINT Storage Manager offers a comprehensive product, which meets all requirements regarding backup, data and technology migration and automated archival of network data. The particular strength of this new management solution is the broad support of all existing and future storage technologies combined with the innovative PoINT Virtual File System (“PoINT VFS”), which integrates the existing storage systems for migration purposes. The well known PoINT Tiered Archive File System (“PoINT TAFS”) first developed in PoINT Archiver completes this solution by providing network-wide HSM functionality.
Another highlight of PoINT Storage Manager is the scheduled backup of databases which are controlled by network agents. Incremental changes can be identified and limited to the necessary minimum by implementing Snapshot technology. Currently, PoINT Storage Manager supports MySQL, MS SQL and Oracle dBase.