Quantum rolls out data deduplication, backup appliances

Quantum has launched two disk-based backup appliances that deduplicate data to increase backup space and replicate it for disaster-recovery purposes.

The DXi3500 and DXi5500 appliances are the first of Quantum's products to use technology acquired from ADIC, which deduplicates data and only backs up unique data. Deduplication of data allows users to retain 10-50 times more backup data on disk and save data for months instead of days, according to Quantum's claims.

"Quantum has a more no-nonsense, realistic approach to optimising backup than many companies," senior analyst for the Forrester Group, Stephanie Balaouras, said. "They don't have these grandiose claims about eliminating tape from your environment but rather using disk-based backups as a supplement to tape."

Quantum acquired ADIC in 2006; ADIC had previously acquired Rocksoft, the owner of the Blocklets de-duplication technology which performs at as much as 800GB/hour.

The data de-duplication technology also lets Quantum appliances be used for WAN-based remote replication of backup data for disaster recovery between data centres and remote offices.

The DXi-Series appliances range in capacity from 250GB to 11TB in size. The DXi3500 and DXi5500 can be presented to backup software as a network-attached storagedevice via Gigabit Ethernet or as a virtual tape library via a Fibre Channel or iSCSI connection. They are compatible backup packages from EMC /Legato and Symantec and do not require any changes to those products.

The DXi-Series appliances also include built-in monitoring, alerting and diagnostic tools, as well as data compression. The Quantum products will compete with Data Domain's DDX Series arrays.

The DXi3500 and DXi5500 are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2007 starting at $US24,000.