ExaGrid Extends Backup Support

On the face of it, news that backup appliance maker ExaGrid now works with EMC's Networker software seems, well, mundane. (See ExaGrid Supports EMC NetWorker.) But closer scrutiny tells a tale of notable progress in a short amount of time.

Certification with Networker is just the latest in a slew of compatibilities unveiled in the last year. Besides Networker, ExaGrid now supports CA ARCServe, Symantec Backup Exec, Symantec NetBackup, CommVault Galaxy, and Microsoft SQL Dump. (See Symantec Certifies ExaGrid, CommVault Certifies ExaGrid, and CA Certifies ExaGrid.) Support of IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager is in the works, the vendor says.

OK, so that list is pretty predictable, too. But at least one analyst thinks it points to ExaGrid's vigorous push into the SME market.

"There are a bunch of things I think they're doing right," says analyst Brad O'Neill of the Taneja Group consultancy. "This shows they're abstracting out the backup vendor selection process from how customers should store data." Clearly, ExaGrid doesn't want to miss any opportunity to work with any kind of backup server.

ExaGrid's goal is to offer a modular SATA disk-based data storage system that takes data off backup servers, reduces its bulk via byte-level de-duplication (as opposed to file-level de-dupe), and stores it on multiple sites. Up to six ExaGrid appliances can be linked in a load- and capacity-balancing grid, the vendor claims. According to Fred Pinkett, ExaGrid's VP of market development, a NAS interface eases use for SME users, whose firms can range in size from a few hundred to a few thousand users. Systems support 1 to 5 Tbytes of backup server data and start at prices around $20,000.ExaGrid's ability to start small may be its chief selling point. "ExaGrid's pricing structure, combined with the ability to put so much data on a smaller system, made it much more feasible than other solutions," said Michael Bailess, network administrator at American National Bank and Trust Co., in Va., in a prepared statement. He claims replacing tape backup with ExaGrid halved his backup window.

Taneja Group's O'Neill also points to ExaGrid's ability to support multisite deployments of replicated unstructured data. "Not every vendor has built in optimal fashion to support not just one, but two or three or four sites," he says. "ExaGrid has done that."

On the downside, ExaGrid hasn't a moment to lose. There is a growing movement toward de-duplication among leading vendors of NAS and SAN gear, including NetApp and EMC, which makes ExaGrid's efforts to compete even more urgent. (See EMC Talks Disk & De-Dupe and NetApp De-Dupes.)

ExaGrid claims to be growing in spite of the competition, with over 100 customers. (See ExaGrid Says Sales Up.) But with some of the largest and most successful storage players nipping at its shanks, ExaGrid is challenged as never before to make the most of its assets.

Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch