LaserVault UBD SCSI Express Virtual Tape Appliance From Electronic Storage Corporation

IBM Corp.‘s shops looking to simplify their AS/400 and iSeries backup operations can now take advantage of the benefits of the UBD SCSI Express virtual tape appliance from Electronic Storage Corporation, makers of LaserVault products.

For a limited time, the system can be purchased at 50% off of the list price of $9,995.

With the introduction of UBD SCSI Express, LaserVault is opening the door to companies with iSeries and AS/400 servers to backup their systems via a SCSI interface using their UBD (Universal Backup Device) tape emulation D2D technology.

Rick Wilson, VP sales and support, LaserVault, explains: “AS/400 and iSeries midrange systems are the workhorses of the server environment. There are a lot of businesses who depend on them, and we have received multiple requests from users for a UBD solution that will help them improve their backup operations from their IBM i’s.”

“With UBD SCSI Express we are able to provide these customers with the ability to backup their existing IBM i to disk using our proven UBD software. The SCSI interface makes it easy and affordable. They can simplify their operations, eliminate tape, and be able to do it in a way that won’t break the bank.”

A ‘plug ‘n go’ solution, UBD SCSI Express is designed to be easy to setup and to use. Users unplug their tape drive and plug in UBD. Since the UBD system appears as a tape device to the host system, users can immediately begin backing up to the UBD appliance. The SFF unit is all-inclusive and comes with a 2TB HGST HDD for daily backups and a 2TB external USB drive for 2nd copy off-site backups, the SCSI cable, and the UBD software.  

The UBD software uses standard backup commands such as SAVLIB and SAVOBJ, and works with a company’s existing backup software, like Save21, RobotSAVE and BRMS. It includes AES-256 encryption and compression of 5 to 1 or greater. No VTL is required, and if needed, users can copy back to physical tape using DUPTAP. UBD SCSI Express can be used for first tier backups combined with tape for long term storage, or setup as a full DR solution.

Brad Jensen, president, LaserVault, stated: “UBD is a great solution for IBM i users who want to eliminate the hassles and expense of tape media, and who want a faster and more reliable backup solution.  It’s for those companies who want to modernize their backups but don’t want to turn their operations upside down to accomplish it.”

“The great thing about UBD is that we can customize it to fit any size business and budget to meet the unique backup and recovery needs of each company, regardless of their size. With the addition of UBD SCSI Express, we are continuing our mission to help our customers streamline their operations and protect their data, the most critical asset of their business.”  

Replication is available with UBD Synch, an application add-on that lets users automatically replicate compressed and encrypted tape image files from a local UBD appliance across a network or the Internet to a remote UBD appliance or file server at any location, ensuring that a company’s data is complete and secure at an offsite location.

UBD SCSI Express can also be used as a gateway device to store backups on a NAS, SAN or any deduplication appliance that supports CIFS, NFS or SCSI connections, such as NetApp, Quantum, Exagrid, EMC Avamar, NEC Hydrastor, EMC Data Domain, etc. It is compatible with most iSeries or AS/400 cloud backup solutions that support Windows  files.

UBD SCSI Express is available and can be ordered by contacting Electronic Storage Corporation or one of their authorized resellers.

For IBM i users interested in learning more about the product, an on-line demo is available.

To assist with budgetary requirements, IBM Global Financing options are available.

UBD SCSI Express is available for all releases of OS/400 and I5/OS.

List price is $9,995.