ETI-NET now adds protection when operator errors are encountered

In the article published in the February, 2017, issue of NonStop Insider we wrote of how we expect to see sales of NonStop X (x86 architecture) systems overtake sales of NonStop i (Itanium architecture) systems by the end of 2017. The mix of systems sold this year will begin to favor NonStop X simply because the price / performance characteristics will become better understood and certainly, the HPE NonStop sales teams will be more willing to make deals on NonStop X given their own desire to paint a positive picture about its market penetration. However, for ETI-NET, the decision favoring either family of NonStop systems isn’t all that material as our BackBox product has been validated to run with both NonStop X and NonStop i.

However, it was in that February article that we made the point of how we expect to see ETI-NET customers taking advantage of BackBox as they backup the old system and then, with the current business logic moved to the new NonStop X system, restore all of their files directly out of BackBox. It is a scenario, we believe, that will be repeated across the NonStop user base and ETI-NET is in a very good position to facilitate migration to NonStop X systems that is both easy and very straightforward for the customer. And this should reduce the risks associated with migration even as it makes sure all files can be recovered even if there are situations where files are inadvertently deleted during the process. This isn’t something we expect to happen often but operator errors still occur and it’s good to know that eventually, out there on virtual tape, your files still exist.

As a process, backup is often overlooked but in a recent article for the March / April, 2017, issue of The Connection we worked in cooperation with Gravic covering the topic of Disaster / Recovery (D/R) strategies, the need for backup (to virtual tape) and how the two products complemented each other to the benefit customers running mission critical applications on NonStop. Perhaps it was the recent four-outage of the Amazon Web Services AWS) when their Cloud storage offering, Simple Storage Service (S3) – the facility relied upon by hundreds of third parties for the storage of their customer files including photos and video clips –went off line following an operational mishap. Turned out to be the result of the AWS S3 storage team who were, according to one report published in USA Today, “debugging the billing system (when) someone entered an extra command. After accidentally taking the servers offline, the various systems had to do ‘a full restart.’” Yes, AWS may not have had to pull files from backups but with such a well-publicized mishap, you see that operational mishaps are still happening to even the most mature of data center operations.

In the upcoming article in The Connection, Data-driven organizations now realizing the value of NonStop – data has to be fresh and accurate! Gravic Inc. EVP, Paul Holenstein, wrote of the value of both D/R and backup. “Organizations realize that their businesses depend on providing tools allowing 24 X 7 data access to everyone in the company … and we have continued to provide the features and tools in our Shadowbase line of data replication products to ensure the databases and data sharing on NonStop systems are no exception.” However, noted Holenstein, “Some operations, such as a PURGE FILE or DROP TABLE do not generate audit; they merely whack the file or table, and if you are configured for replication to replicate these events, the data replication engine will dutifully comply and whack the file or table on the target node. Now, you are really in trouble if you don’t have a copy of it ‘somewhere’ (e.g. on tape).” And that’s what a virtual backup solution like BackBox is addressing!

ETI-NET customers that use Shadowbase can also use BackBox replication in order to protect their database integrity against data corruption or against an accidental record lost. With the backup also replicated, the customer can always go back to a specific backup and restore the file with integrity. Add to this how the BackBox Catsync synchronizes the NonStop backup catalog DSM, in real time, in order to complement Shadowbase and allow the customer to switch transparently the backup / restore on their DR system, and you are adding yet more protection for files and databases. For the full story on BackBox giving more value to NonStop users, be sure to read the article in the March / April issue of The Connection magazine.

A number of the RUG events will have been held by the time you read this but there’s still the major European event – the eBITUG of May, 2017, in London – so if you will be attending this event again, make sure you come by our booth as we would certainly like to talk to you on just how well Backbox complements whatever D/R strategy you may be pursuing.

Said Hini
said.hini@etinet.com (514) 663-0501
http://etinet.com/