EMC is fine-tuning its RecoverPoint replication and continuous data protection (CDP) software with support for local CDP and remote replication on the same data volume and tighter integration of the two features.
EMC also unveiled the EMC Disk Library for Mainframe (DLm) 4080, a mainframe virtual tape library (VTL) based on the Celerra NAS platform.
The major update to RecoverPoint is the ability to assign continuous data protection (CDP) and remote replication policies to the same data volume. According to Rob Emsley, senior director of software product marketing for EMC, both processes could not be applied to the same data in previous versions.
Another update, called the Clariion Splitter, puts processing for the RecoverPoint's copy-on-write application onto Clariion storage arrays, eliminating the need for an intelligent switch. This feature will only work with the newest CX 3 series disk arrays. The splitter can now handle VMware file system data.
Is it too late for CDP?
According to Emsley, the update to RecoverPoint is in part an effort to boost deployments of the CDP feature. "When users have had to make a choice, most have chosen to use replication only," he admitted.
The reluctance of organisations to use CDP isn't limited to RecoverPoint. The much-hyped backup technology hasn't really caught on, and its chances of catching on as a standalone product appear slim. But analysts see hope for CDP inside of data protection applications.
"CDP has been most successful when deployed as a feature of an accepted data protection technology, such as backup or replication," said Lauren Whitehouse, an analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group. Recent research by the company found that CDP is actively being used by 13% of organisations, with 40% of respondents reporting that the technology is in plan for the next 24 months.
"It's been around a while, and it hasn't become mainstream," said analyst Mike Fisch. "But the technology is good. I liken it to snapshot copies taken to the extreme, and many users, particularly in the midmarket, are only just looking to add snapshots in the first place." Fisch also said he's seen adoption of CDP in the enterprise space. "It hasn't come about as fast as we thought it would a few years ago, but the technology hasn't been completely ignored," he said.
Too many cooks in the EMC replication kitchen?
While the new version of RecoverPoint should make users happy, it does nothing to reduce the number of replication products offered by EMC. It has array-based replication with Clariion's SnapView and MirrorView, and Symmetrix's TimeFinder and SRDF; host-based replication with RepliStor; and RecoverPoint for heterogeneous appliance-based replication. This has the potential to confuse customers.
EMC has also been feeling the heat from smaller storage companies, such as Compellent Technologies and EqualLogic that bundle replication and other data protection features into the software on their disk arrays. With this release, replication remains an add-on feature for Clariion arrays.
New mainframe VTL
The DLm 4080 mainframe VTL uses software from EMC partner Bus-Tech packaged into virtual tape emulators (VTEs) -- server blades that slide into a Celerra storage cabinet and can be clustered up to four ways. Emsley said the system is based on the Celerra NAS platform because the VTEs use NFS to access the disk storage. Using NFS allows all VTEs to access the entire disk in the disk array while still splitting up the virtual tape interface among several compute engines to improve performance.
The DLm 4080 can scale to 190 TB capacity with the addition of two cabinets. While other mainframe VTLs on the market function as tape caches, Emsley said EMC intends this VTL to retain mainframe backups on disk indefinitely. "In the mainframe world, the VTL as we think of it in open systems really isn't common," he said. "The DLm is meant to be the first tapeless mainframe backup solution."