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 NEWSBackup and recovery on an enterprise scale By James R. Borck, InfoWorld Test Center September 29, 2000 THE NEED TO safeguard against data loss on internal networks has spurred most companies to impose regimented backup plans. But as corporate infrastructures become more distributed, thanks to increasing numbers of satellite offices, work-at-home warriors, and laptop-lugging executives, maintaining control over the process remotely presents some formidable challenges for IT administrators.
One such solution is TLM 5.0, the flagship backup and disaster recovery product from Connected. We recently put TLM 5.0 through its paces and found it to be a solid way to manage backup and recovery of Windows-based desktop, laptop, and remote PC environments. But due to its high cost and lack of support for platforms other than Windows, we could not give it a better score than Good. TLM boasts capabilities that benefit administrators and end-users alike. Fail-over mirroring and clustering, customizable deployment and backup options, improved interfacing with external storage devices, and new features that enable hardware and software asset auditing make for easier management and bolster enterprise-scale availability. For end-users, a simple-to-use, wizard-driven recovery process provides a level of autonomy that will improve productivity and reduce support costs. On the downside, this new release lacks Windows 2000 Server support, as well as the broad OS and database support found in products such as Veritas NetBackup and BakBone NetVault. Nevertheless, for Windows shops, TLM's scalability, flexibility, security, and compression make it well-suited for Internet-based backup, even over slow, dial-up connections. Any organization with large numbers of distributed and mobile Windows users will benefit from TLM's control over resources. Flexible deployment TLM is comprised of a server-side application and management console, a client-side utility for automating the backup process and initiating repairs, and a client deployment kit for customization and delivery of the client-side utility. We found the lack of effort and training required to get TLM running to be commendable. Furthermore, the flexible deployment schemes offer features such as a self-installing executable that requires no user interaction to set up, as well as a ticketed enrollment engine that automates the sign-up process in larger user environments. TLM assigns a unique identification number and 112-bit Triple DES encryption key to each user, using encryption to ensure the privacy of data both in transit and at rest in-house. An integrated key escrowing system provides administrators with a means of easy recovery in the case of lost keys. Upon installation of the client software, TLM initiates discovery of the system and allows the end-user to begin the backup process. Because the initial backup is a complete one, it would be best performed while connected to the network locally. Transparent operation After the first backup, TLM's space-saving and compression mechanisms provided very efficient transfer even over adverse bandwidth availability. Features such as delta block detection compare and send only the changed portions of a file, reducing the amount of data transferred during backup. Another feature, called SendOnce, detects if a duplicate file has already been backed up to the data center, even by another user. TLM's delta block detection goes one step further, checking not only for similarities between existing files, but within new files as well. While most backup schemes back up the entire contents of a new file over the network, TLM looks for any similarities in existing data to avoid duplication. Overall, we found TLM's backup capabilities to culminate in increased efficiency, minimized transfer time, and reduced storage overhead.To ensure user compliance with your company's backup strategy, TLM offers hands-free operation. When TLM detects a network connection on the end-user's machine, it goes into action, transparently initiating data backup to the server while a road warrior checks e-mail, for example. To reduce traffic bottlenecks during regular periods of heavy network usage, administrators can restrict backups to specific times of the day. And TLM performed flawlessly in tests in which we broke the data connection during transfer, picking up and resuming the interrupted backup with the very next network connection to guarantee delivery to the data center. Easy recovery TLM offers multiple, configurable options for remedying data loss. Heal and recovery wizards provide users with the ability to correct their own problems over any IP connection, eliminating the need for a help desk call. Users can use the heal wizard to roll back their system to a particular point in time or load replacement files from a CD-ROM. In addition, a full-blown heal utility gives administrators granular control over file reparations, including the ability to selectively replace files and schedule backups. In the Enterprise edition, a remote assist feature gives administrators remote control over any PC in order to speed diagnoses and repair. Full-featured application In addition to its efficiency in backing up and restoring data, TLM offers a number of enterprise-worthy bells and whistles. Improvements to the Hierarchical Storage Manager give administrators more control when interfacing with tape libraries, including secondary offline storage, and provide seamless client fail-over to mirrored data centers in the event of server outages. TLM also gives users easy, Web-based access to their backed-up files through an included iRoam file retrieval system that interfaces with Microsoft Internet Information Server. If an end-user's laptop is stolen at the airport, he or she can still replace a backed up PowerPoint presentation via any Web browser using the iRoam interface. Of course, TLM provides administrators with additional options, including the ability to send out a replacement ROM burned using the handy CD-maker utility. For Windows organizations, at least, Connected TLM will improve backup management capabilities, particularly for remote systems, and reduce staffing requirements necessary for comprehensive disaster recovery. Employees will be able to efficiently self-govern most recovery processes, easing administrative burden without compromising the integrity of the process. Related article Software failure can lead to financial catastrophe James R. Borck is a senior analyst with the InfoWorld Test Center covering e-business and network solutions. If you have an interesting experience relating to system backup and recovery, e-mail him at james_borck@infoworld.com.
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