ExaGrid Said to Match Price of Tape Library Backup for SMBs

ExaGrid Systems, Inc. offers a family of disk backup appliances with data deduplication at a price that matches the cost of the vast majority of comparably-sized tape libraries.

ExaGrid’s new price matching program is for mid-market and small enterprise companies still using tape that want to transition to disk backup with deduplication, but have delayed because of cost concerns.

The ExaGrid ‘Fast and Reliable Backup’ price match program allows customers to submit a valid quote from a vendor or reseller for a new tape library. ExaGrid will respond within 24 hours whether the company can match the quoted price with an ExaGrid disk backup with deduplication system equipped to handle the same size backups more efficiently and reliably.

"ExaGrid has been driving down the cost of disk-based backup with deduplication for the last 5 years and we are excited that ExaGrid can now match the price of a new tape library plus tapes in the vast majority of cases," said Bill Andrews, CEO of ExaGrid Systems. "All you have to do is show the quote, let us know the size of your full backup, and we will let you know within 24 hours if you can move to disk backup with deduplication at the same price as tape. With budget-constrained IT organizations eager to realize the benefits of disk-backup, now IT staff can improve backups and get all of the benefits of disk within their existing backup budget."

Benefits of Switching
to ExaGrid Disk Backup with Deduplication

• Storage Efficiency: ExaGrid reduces the amount of disk storage needed to protect data by 10:1 to 50:1 (average of 20:1) via byte-level and zone-level data deduplication.
• Shorter Backup Windows: Customers report a 30 to 90 percent reduction in backup time with ExaGrid’s post-process deduplication.
• Faster Restore Times: ExaGrid customers typically restore files within a matter of a few minutes, and ExaGrid enables the fastest restore and offsite tape copy by keeping a full copy of the last backup in a complete form.
• Elimination of Failed Backups and Failed Restores: ExaGrid disk-based backup is far more reliable than tape for both backups and restores.
• Faster Disaster Recovery (DR): ExaGrid customers can back up data to an offsite location via ExaGrid’s WAN-efficient second site replication and recover it quickly via the offsite system’s unique Instant-DR capabilities. 50% of ExaGrid’s customers have an ExaGrid offsite for disaster recovery.
• Higher Security: With ExaGrid, data remains within the data center’s physical and network security and not on tapes that are moved frequently and can get misplaced or lost.
• Scalability: Performance scales as data grows without any increase in backup times since processing power, memory and bandwidth are added along with storage capacity, and data loads are automatically balanced across all servers.
• Less Time Spent on Backup, More Time for Other Critical IT Areas: ExaGrid is easy to install and frees up IT time with automated reports and a unified management console.
• Real-world Customer Successes: Thousands of installed systems and more than 250 customer success stories and video testimonials – more than all other disk-based backup with deduplication vendors combined.
• Cost-Effective Deployments: ExaGrid provides a product available at the best prices in the industry.
• No Change to Existing Backup Processes: ExaGrid uses customers’ existing backup application, so users simply point backup jobs to the ExaGrid system (NAS target) instead of a tape library. Most customers deploy in less than an hour.

"The ExaGrid system offers significant benefits to our customers in terms of faster, more reliable backups, scalability, and an unmatched price/performance level," said John Kasser, Sr. Vice President at Sayers, a reseller and ExaGrid channel partner. "By matching the price of a tape library in most situations, ExaGrid is making it even easier for customers to enjoy all of the advantages of disk backup with deduplication. This could be a game-changer in the marketplace."

ExaGrid backup systems are designed to meet the needs of companies backing-up between 1TB and 130TBs of data in a single system. ExaGrid delivers the performance, reliability and security benefits of backing up to disk, at a cost that now equals the price of tape libraries plus tapes.

To request a quote that matches the price of a tape library plus tapes, customers or resellers must present a valid quote for a new tape library, along with the size of the full backup and retention. The program began on May 12 and is valid for purchases made through June 30, 2011.

ExaGrid’s approach to disk-based backup delivers performance and scalability without requiring costly forklift upgrades as data grows. ExaGrid customers achieve fastest backup times because data is written directly to disk and data deduplication is performed post-process after the data is stored. In addition, ExaGrid’s GRID scalability enables organizations to store up to a 130TB full backup plus retention. Performance scales with data growth since processing power, memory and bandwidth are added along with storage capacity, and data loads are automatically balanced across all servers.