New FalconStor VTL Backup Accelerator Option ($20,000)

FalconStor Software, Inc. announced a new backup acceleration option for FalconStor Virtual Tape Library (VTL). The new FalconStor VTL Backup Accelerator improves backup processes by offloading backups from production environments, eliminating impact on host applications, boosting speed and entirely eliminating the backup window. Typical backup speed enhancements range from 4 to 8 times faster than host-based backups, significantly reducing backup time, reclaiming backup management time and lowering operating costs.

“Backup systems in use today were designed for a fraction of the volume data that modern enterprises routinely manage and protect every day; most IT managers are overwhelmed with the daunting task of maintaining a simple routine backup schedule, and they need a creative solution,” said Alex Jiang, vice president of worldwide marketing, FalconStor Software. “FalconStor understands backup better than most data protection vendors, and we have designed an elegant solution that allows today’s businesses to protect their most import asset without working around the clock.”

The rapid growth of digital data and the constant pressure of online services on production systems are overloading backup windows, making many companies vulnerable to data loss. Even though FalconStor VTL helps accelerate backup operations by providing scalable, high-performance back-end support to backup applications, the challenge remains in the overloads applied by the backup host agents on production systems on the front-end of the backup data path. The result is a very tight backup window that does not provide enough time to complete all necessary backups.

“The FalconStor VTL Backup Accelerator brings a whole new dimension of efficiency to traditional file-level backup in practice today,” said Lauren Whitehouse, analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group. “The new VTL option modernizes today’s cumbersome way of performing backup without ripping out existing backup applications or necessitating process changes. Inserting this option on the front side of the backup process promises to greatly optimize backup, just as VTL modernized backup when inserted behind media servers to improve performance and reliability.”

FalconStor VTL Backup Accelerator option uses HyperTrac agents to offload backup cycles from application servers and to enable SAN-based backup processes, allowing backups to run at any time. This enables high-speed backups through the high-performance SAN infrastructure instead of the traditional backup method through the general purpose network or the LAN. In addition, the cost of backup agents is eliminated to improve capital expenses, and CPU cycles traditionally consumed by backup agents are reclaimed.

Pricing and Availability
The FalconStor VTL Backup Accelerator option is available immediately for a U.S. list price of $20,000; it includes one VTL Backup Accelerator option software license, 16 host agent licenses for Microsoft Windows and/or Linux application servers, and one HyperTrac agent license for any supported backup software.