Learn why FalconStor VTL is the fastest, most reliable virtual tape backup solution on the market
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| High-performance Backup and Restore | FalconStor VTL technology supports the latest high-speed SAN storage protocols, including 8Gb FC and 10Gb iSCSI, achieving single node backup speeds of 1.6 GB per second, over 5.8 TB per hour per node, while simultaneously sustaining deduplication speeds from 28 TB/Hr to 40 TB/Hr – the fastest in the industry. Unique read-ahead technology provides fast data restore, even from deduplicated tapes. |
| Reliable, Scalable Architecture | FalconStor VTL is the only solution that scales high availability (HA) backup nodes independently of HA cluster deduplication nodes. FalconStor VTL scales up to 8 backup nodes to handle larger data sets or to meet more severe backup windows, while independently scaling up to 4 cluster deduplication nodes in an N+1 architecture for faster deduplication performance. The solution scales to 2PB of usable storage and allows for longer data retention to meet stringent SLAs. |
| Flexible Deduplication Policies | FalconStor Deduplication allows backup administrators to fully align deduplication policies with business goals. Deduplication can be assigned to run inline (during backup), post-process (after backup), or concurrently (simultaneously with data ingest, after the first virtual tape is created). Deduplication can also be deactivated when it is not needed, such as during archiving. Backup data received from any node is deduplicated against all data in the repository, for true global deduplication. FalconStor offers the only deduplication solution that deduplicates seamlessly across all active HA nodes without predefined node/controller designation. |
| Non-disruptive Deployment | FalconStor VTL emulates over 50 popular tape libraries and 30 tape drive formats, ensuring easy and transparent integration into existing backup environments without the need to reconfigure backup jobs. Format awareness for over 32 backup formats maximizes detection of duplicate data, guaranteeing that the same data is aligned the same way each time and improving deduplication efficiency by as much as 40% over generic, fixed, block deduplication methods. In addition, simultaneous support for NDMP, Symantec OpenStorage (OST), and IBM System i connectivity provides non-disruptive support for all backup applications in an enterprise. |
| Direct Physical Tape Integration | Direct integration with physical tape satisfies the ongoing corporate need for tape media. Advanced automated tape management simplifies operations, decreases media consumption, and reduces tape handling costs. |
| Automated Tape Caching | Set up policies that automatically trigger export to physical tape. Files can be restored from either the virtual or physical tape copy. The operation is totally transparent to the backup software so there is no impact to existing backup policies. The backup application always has direct access to data regardless of the location, disk, or physical tape. |
| Multi-tape Export | FalconStor VTL can directly export virtual tapes to physical tape, up to five copies at a time, for offsite DR and/or to meet regulatory requirements. Multi-tape export may be set as part of an automated tape caching or auto-archive policy; or it can occur during manual export of a single tape. Multi-tape export increases IT productivity and reduces the added cost of vaulting licensing fees, by offloading the task from the media server and eliminating the need for manual tape duplication and scripting. |
| Tape Stacking | Write multiple virtual tapes to a single physical tape of greater capacity. Tape stacking supports like-to-unlike writing to tape, allowing multiple virtual tapes to be written to a larger capacity physical tape format, reducing job management and saving media costs and storage space. |
| Enhanced Security | FalconStor VTL enables the creation of encryption keys that protect valuable corporate data from being accessed in the event of tape theft, tape loss, or misuse of disk resources. |
| Tape Encryption | The FalconStor VTL solution can export data from virtual to physical tapes in an encrypted format using the Advanced 256-bit Encryption Standard (AES) without requiring encryption software on the physical tape drive. |
| Tape Shredding | Normally, data deleted from a hard disk can be partially or fully recreated using disk forensics. Virtual tape shredding enables users to "destroy" a virtual tape so that it cannot be accessed, even when using disk forensics. Shredding uses Department of Defense-based standards for full data deletion, including a three-pass wipe process (Standard 5220.22-M). |
| Ease of Management, Integrated Reporting | Up to eight VTL nodes can be configured and managed as a single unit, with one point of control. The management console provides easy-to-use wizards to configure and manage users and administrators; add/configure clients; set server properties; monitor activity; create deduplication policies/monitor deduplication; manage the import/export of tapes; monitor current status of total storage capacity, used storage capacity, and available storage capacity; and run/view reports. Pre-defined enterprise level reports help manage and monitor FalconStor VTL/SIR clusters, disk space usage, and physical resource allocation, as well as provide comprehensive status information on storage and performance trends for capacity planning. |
| Hosted Backup | Hosted Backup allows certified backup applications to be installed directly onto the FalconStor VTL server, increasing performance by accelerating the transfer of backup data to virtual tape by eliminating the data path between a physical backup server and the VTL. |
| NetBackup Open Storage Support | FalconStor VTL includes the industry’s first Fibre Channel (FC) SAN target for Symantec OpenStorage (OST) protocol accelerating backup from Symantec media servers and enabling transparent operations, including single-pane-of-glass management, high performance, and catalog consistency during Symantec duplication (replication) and tape operations. Additionally, FalconStor VTL can operate in a mixed mode with Symantec OST logical storage units and virtual tape data from other backup applications. |
| Flexible Deployment Modes | FalconStor VTL technology can be deployed in several modes: 1) as an integrated self-contained storage appliance containing processing and disk resources, 2) as a virtual appliance running on a VMware ESX server using internal or DAS disk, and 3) as a high-performance, HA gateway cluster that eliminates the proliferation of deduplication silos while offering ease of deployment and management. |
| NDMP Backup Support | Allows certified backup applications and industry-standard NAS appliances to perform backup to and restore from the FalconStor VTL solution using NDMP v2, 3, 4 protocols over an IP network. When a backup occurs, data is moved from the NAS device directly to the virtual library. |
| IBM System i Support | FalconStor VTL non-disruptively replaces tape backup in IBM i environments to accelerate backup/recovery processes and improve operational efficiency. The solution provides integration with native backup tools, enables IPL bare-metal recovery from virtual or physical tape, and provides direct physical tape support with encryption to maximize secure operations. |
| ACSLS Shared Library Support | The ACSLS/Library Station option works with ACSLS/Library Station-managed tape libraries, allowing the system to share ACSLS/Library Station-managed libraries among the FalconStor VTL server and backup servers - making it possible to import data from physical tapes and export data from virtual tapes to physical tapes. |
| IBM 3494 Library Support | Enables a FalconStor VTL server to emulate the tape drives inside an IBM 3494 Tape Library (e.g., IBM 3590 drives) to import data from physical tapes and export data from virtual tape to physical tape. |
