Current Filter: Network>>>>>>

   

Barracuda's backup appliances take the strain because they can run everything including site-to-site replication using a single point of administration.

On review is the Backup Appliance 390 which we found remarkably easy to deploy: make a network connection, provide a static IP address and you are away. All management is via the Cloud Control web portal for every Barracuda product in your estate. To add the 390 to our account we simply entered its serial number and a unique link code provided in the box. After adding customisation details such as its location, we were ready to back up some data.

Windows systems can be backed up using CIFS. Additionally, Barracuda provides an agent to capture open files, perform incremental backups and source deduplication. During testing the agent allowed us to declare our sources to the portal. We conducted our tests using systems running Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V, Exchange 2007, Windows Server 2012 and VMware ESX Server 5, but Barracuda also supports Mac OS X, Linux and Unix. Backup job creation is swift because having declared each Windows system we were able to tick a box and everything including the System State was backed up. The agents allow you to browse file systems and applications on each Windows system and we created separate jobs for securing folders, Hyper-V VMs, the Exchange data store and Exchange message level backups (MLBs).

MLBs require a dedicated Exchange service account to be created: a process well documented by Barracuda. VMware backup is even easier. Once we had provided root credentials we could then browse and select specific VMs from the portal. As you would expect you can schedule backup tasks running them as frequently as every minute. Barracuda makes light work of this as its Incremental Forever option will run one full backup followed by regular incremental updates.

For site-to-site replication testing we linked a Backup Appliance 490 to our account. We declared the 490 to the 390 as a replication target and during backup schedule creation we just selected one box to activate it. Tasks can include cloud backup, which is also activated in the schedule with a single click. Once the backup starts, the appliance manages all the processes so you really don't need to do anything else.

Data is secured to the local appliance and then automatically replicated to the remote appliance and the cloud. Barracuda performs block-level deduplication for all backups, meaning that storage capacity is reduced significantly. Often overlooked is data restoration. With Barracuda, you select a source from the portal, pick what you want to recover and decide where to send it. If you need data from the off-site location then just select the replication appliance and restore the data from there instead. For Exchange we could restore the entire data store or select our MLB option and pick mailboxes and individual messages. For a dead system we just downloaded the bare metal recovery CD image, booted the new system and acquired the chosen data from appliance.

Data stored in the cloud is also available for disaster recovery. If for any reason the appliance fails, Barracuda can despatch a new one which can be restored from the cloud. For large volumes of data Barracuda will seed it prior to delivery.

The Barracuda Backup Appliance impressed us during testing as it greatly simplifies business-critical data backup. It streamlines the entire process by handling all on-site, off-site replication and cloud backup processes and it provides extensive and very intuitive data recovery services. NC

Product: Backup Appliance 390
Supplier: Barracuda Networks
Tel: 01256 300 100
Web site: www.barracuda.com
Price: From £ 2,648 excluding VAT