Quantum Increases Capacity Of Backup And Deduplication Systems

In a development that is intended to help user organizations more easily increase the capacity of their backup and deduplication systems, Quantum has announced the DXi4601, the latest member of its DXi4000 family of disk backup systems. The system has a capacity ranging from 4 Tbytes to 12 Tbytes of usable storage, and comes with the full complement of storage built in. Users can upgrade the amount of capacity with a license key, which lets users upgrade their systems without requiring hardware changes or service visits. Quantum also claims that the system offers twice the deduplication performance of competitors at half the price.

The device is intended for small to midsize businesses and remote offices with from 10 Tbytes to 12 Tbytes of primary data, says Steve Whitner, marketing manager for disk backup products for the San Jose, Calif.-based company. Such sites often have limited IT personnel and can’t expect to get more staff, he says. The system is intended to be rack-mounted, and organizations that purchase the 4-Tbyte minimum have no obligation to purchase a license for the additional 8 Tbytes in the box. While technology could improve over time and make the built-in storage outdated, people typically keep backup appliances for several years, and speed is more a factor of the controller and how it processes data, he says.

The claim about performance is based on the product specifications compared with the specifications of competitors, particularly node-based grid systems, Whitner says. It can perform deduplication on the fly at 1.8 Tbytes per hour, which is nearly 500 Mbytes per second. This includes importing, deduplicating and storing the data, he adds. The device can be managed by standard Quantum management tools, including looking at trending using an iPad or iPhone application.

"Scaling backup is often unnecessarily complex, and requires wiring many widgets together or replacing equipment as a customer's needs change over time," says Jeff Boles, senior analyst and director of validation services for The Taneja Group. "Quantum thinks it can better serve the customer by delivering a high-horsepower but lower-cost box where the customer can unlock future capability with capacity-on-demand licensing. While this has been tried before in other areas without success, Quantum is bringing the DXi4601 to a backup market that is already accustomed to capacity-based licensing and where there are few alternatives to keeping things simple as backup demands change. To date, there have been no easy answers for scalability in backup storage--the few that make such promises actually have complexity and restrictions lurking right below the surface. Quantum may be on to something."

The product is scheduled to ship in mid-October in tiers of 4 Tbytes, 8 Tbytes or 12 Tbytes, and is priced starting at $21,500 plus $8,250 for each additional 4 Tbytes of storage, Whitner says. It is made up of a series of RAID 6 2-Tbyte drives.

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