First-of-its-Kind Research Detailing Disk-Based Backup User Deployments and ROI Benefits

International Journal of Micrographics & Optical Technology, 2004

Quantum Corp. has published the first research of its kind focused on disk-based backup-and-restore customer deployment models, economic justification, performance and integration experiences. The analysis, derived largely from interviews of Quantum DX-Series Enhanced Backup System users, used results captured due to the length of operation time in production environments. Quantum has shipped its DX-Series products for almost two years and believes that it is uniquely positioned, with a significant end-user installed base that can testify to the long-term benefits associated with disk-based backup and restore solutions.

With the goal of developing an in-depth educational tool to help customers understand the emerging disk-based backup market and justify the technology investment, Quantum approached Taneja Group, a leading storage industry analyst firm to conduct independent interviews with Quantum DX-Series users. The compiled data built the foundation of the report, Field Adoption Report: Disk-based Backup and Restore, the Quantum DX-Series. Overall, Taneja Group found DX-Series users enjoyed an average return on investment of just 12 months and rated the DX-Series a nine out of a possible 10 in terms of overall satisfaction.

"Taneja Group surveyed a number of Quantum DX-Series users and mapped these findings to our recent study on next generation data protection trends focused on disk-based backup and restore," said Arun Taneja, Founder and Consulting Analyst of Taneja Group. "The resulting collective analysis, which we believe is the most comprehensive to-date on this technology, provides detailed reinforcement of our opinions that disk-based backup and restore is providing significant value to end users, and that we are only just beginning to see the transformative impact of disk on the world of data protection."

The results of this research validate a number of emerging trends for disk-based backup adoption. Among the key findings:

* The top purchase drivers among DX-Series users include the need to: 1) address shrinking backup windows; 2) increase data restore speed and; 3) increase restore reliability. The research indicates that DX-Series users are now completing their backup executions within established windows 100% of the time and are seeing a reduction in the duration of their backups, ranging from 30% to 80% of previously established windows. Moreover, DX-Series users reported an average increase of over 400% in their restore speed versus their previous environments, with nearly every respondent indicating a 100% restore reliability rate.

* Quantum's tape emulation approach to disk-based backup and restore is being validated by customers. All those interviewed indicated that the tape emulation approach utilized by Quantum was intuitive, easy to implement, and preserved existing backup and restore processes and procedures.

* The research indicates the emergence of a "disk tier" in the storage hierarchy. Disk-based backup is not seen as a replacement to tape-based systems; rather, DX-Series users achieve increased flexibility through disk-based backup while tape remains critical for long-term archive and off-site storage.

"The detailed findings contained in Taneja Group's research are consistent with the feedback we receive from DX-Series customers every day," said David Kenyon, director, enterprise product marketing of Quantum's Storage Systems Business Unit. "It also validates Quantum's strategy to provide backup and recovery solutions that are extremely reliable, are easy to deploy, and deliver immediate and long-term measurable benefits. As a leader in the disk-based backup market, we have been shipping DX-Series systems for almost two years and have many customers worldwide. Quantum is, therefore, uniquely positioned to speak to the advantages associated with adding disk-based tape emulation systems to storage infrastructures."

You can find a copy of the Field Adoption Report: Disk-based Backup and Restore, the Quantum DX-Series at www.quantum.com/diskbackup

Contact Quantum. Web: www.quantum.com