Press Release (U.S.)

Understand Remote Storage Needs Before Investing in ROBO Backup Consolidation Solutions

TORONTO – May 23, 2006 – Those looking for a backup consolidation solution to manage the backup at their remote office/branch office (ROBO) locations are advised to begin with a network storage discovery tool that provides a clear view of their data at a ROBO environment by scanning and analyzing files on the LAN, say experts at Asigra™, the technology leader in agentless distributed backup and recovery software for remote and branch offices.

A LAN discovery tool is designed to analyze idiosyncrasies and characteristics, or data behavior, at ROBO sites and to provide in-depth understanding about ROBO data before it is protected. This critical first step helps plan an effective and comprehensive backup strategy tailored to an organization’s needs while reducing costs and improving existing storage resource utilization.

Discovery tools improve storage efficiency by giving the storage administrator the ability to classify ROBO data into two main segments: “critical” (i.e. still required for day-to-day business operations) and “important” (i.e. not required for day-to day, but not deleted or purged either). This classification allows a company to set recovery time objectives (RTOs) and policies to back up information based on its relevancy, frequency of use and value. “Critical” information will be stored locally and offsite on disk for fast restore, reducing costs and complexity. “Important” information which is older and less frequently accessed will find itself moved to long-term storage as part of a comprehensive backup lifecycle management (BLM) program.

Service providers can use the tool to help customers prune data before they subscribe to their services to lower costs. Enterprise users can use it to reduce the volume of ROBO data to be backed up, gleaning a better understanding of the changing frequency of data at remote sites. A LAN discovery tool will uncover information about ROBO data such as size of files, ownership within the company, duplicate information and the rate at which files have been modified. This knowledge is particularly important for a centrally located storage administrator who is typically less aware of how data behaves at ROBO sites and provides for a more meaningful backup consolidation project that ensures better RTO and recovery point objectives (RPOs) for ROBO data with cost containment.

Asigra recommends finding a LAN discovery tool that features the following attributes:

• Custom Configuration – The discovery process should allow administrators to configure the extent of their remote LAN that will be analyzed. Depending on a company’s needs, this range can include an entire branch office, several machines or a single computer, even a single network share. A list of criteria should be provided for the discovery/scanning process.


• Scanning Flexibility – The scan process should be scheduled or start on demand. Scheduled runs over a period of time provide more accurate statistical information on data growth and changes. To speed up the scanning process and reporting, users should have the ability to easily alter the scan to skip files that are smaller than a specific size, preferably from a GUI. The scan should be agentless, eliminating the need to install software on scan targets.


• Multiple Reporting Output Options - At the end of the scan process, summary and detailed reports should be provided at a “drill-down” granular level in multiple formats, such as in HTML or Excel.

By using a LAN discovery tool to thoroughly analyze the storage network before investing in a backup management solution, enterprises can implement policies and procedures that will help manage corporate data while controlling costs and optimizing storage resources.

About Asigra
Asigra is the award-winning leader in remote office/branch office online backup/recovery with more than three petabytes of data under protection. Since 1986, the company’s agentless Televaulting solution has centralized data management and eliminated the pricing and performance problems created by agent-based tape backup software in multi-site enterprises. Televaulting addresses state, Federal and international regulatory compliance demands by backing up remote/branch office data to the data center. Data is encrypted both in-flight over the WAN and at rest. Televaulting is offered by leading resellers and service providers worldwide to deliver highly secure data protection. Privately held Asigra is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with partner offices located globally. For more information, visitwww.asigra.com.