We are pleased to announce that backup-to-disk workloads will be supported on the StorSimple 8000 Series devices running Update 3 or later. We are also making deployment guides available to help configure backup applications that use StorSimple as a disk-based backup target.

StorSimple combines the performance and compatibility of local storage with the scale, resiliency, and availability of cloud object storage, providing the best of both worlds.

StorSimple Updates?

With the release of Update 3 for the StorSimple 8000 series devices, we have introduced a new backup mode that tunes the device and enables it to be used as a backup-to-disk target. We have also included improvements to cloud throughput and enhancements around dealing with high frequency data churn. These additions enable the device to be configured as both primary and secondary backup target.

Why use StorSimple as a backup target?

Typically, >95% of restores are served from the last 7 days of backups. StorSimple’s cloud-centric architecture ensures that the most recently written backup will remain on the device’s local storage capacity, while the older, archival-class backups tier out to cloud storage.

This approach facilitates:

• Faster backups using local storage
• Faster restore from local storage
• Azure as offsite storage
• On-demand elastic expansion, cloud scale, and cloud economics for backup capacity
• Built-in Disaster Recovery in Azure IaaS
• Removal of offsite media management
• No media migration between backup media types or formats
• Enterprise grade device with dual storage controllers, both 1 GbE and 10 GbE connectivity, and seamless integration with Microsoft Azure.
• Reuse data in Azure using StorSimple device in Azure

Once the backup data is in the cloud, StorSimple device in Azure and StorSimple Data Manager service can be used to transform the data into workable datasets for a myriad use cases.

Which backup software applications are supported today?

StorSimple is certified with Veritas Backup Exec, Veritas NetBackup, and Veeam

Please refer the below configuration guides for vendor-specific configurations.

• Configure StorSimple with Veritas Backup Exec
• Configure StorSimple with Veritas NetBackup
• Configure StorSimple with Veeam

There are ongoing efforts to certify additional software vendors – watch this space for the latest news!

Typical deployment topology

The StorSimple 8000 series volumes are deployed as disk-based backup targets for backup applications. An example of such a deployment is as follows: