PowerVS Disaster Recovery

Cloud Native Backup as a Service for IBM i Systems in the Cloud

Disaster Recovery for IBM i, AIX, and Linux Workloads in PowerVS

For over 20 years, FalconStor has provided a virtual tape library (VTL) disk-based solution to IBM customers that reduces storage costs and now greatly simplifies migration to PowerVS. FalconStor provides the only IBM-certified third party solution for backing up PowerVS workloads, and this same software, StorSafe VTL for PowerVS, is used for implementing a disaster recovery (DR) solution in PowerVS. StorSafe VTL for PowerVS is fully integrated into the IBM Cloud Catalog with one-click provisioning and integrated billing with PowerVS.

KEY BENEFITS

Increase Uptime with Disaster Recovery. Recover rapidly in the event of a disaster by replicating IBM i/AIX/Linux systems from one region in the cloud to another region
Easily Add Ransomware Protection. Overcome cyberattack and recover to unaffected data with an immutable, air-gapped copy of data
Scale with Pay as You Grow. With no size limits on workloads replicated, you pay only for what you use, from 1TB to many PBs.
Reduce Costs with Up to 95% Data Reduction. Reduce storage capacity required by replicated data by up to 95% with deduplication techniques and advanced compression based on nine patents
Increase IT Productivity with Central Management Console. Centrally manage all instances of FalconStor technology across your environment with clear visibility into the status and health of data protection operations worldwide – includes reports, customizable dashboard, and proactive alerts.

PowerVS Disaster Recovery
The figure below provides an overview of the process for PowerVS Disaster Recovery. By easily adding replication from region to region in PowerVS, you have the added protection of a secondary cloud location, using the existing StorSafe VTL for PowerVS solution.

Multi-OS solution that replicates data using the same StorSafe VTL for PowerVS software used for PowerVS backups
Replication solution solves the high availability issue of recovering from an infected image during a ransomware attack
StorSafe VTL deduplication reduces amount of data to move and store

By adding a second instance of StorSafe VTL for PowerVS as a disaster recovery solution, your IT department ensures business continuity for PowerVS workloads. Plus, this solution delivers enhanced protection from ransomware with a separate air-gapped copy of data, offering recovery from a specific point in time (i.e., before the cyberattack). You also have the option to replicate to an on-prem location, providing flexibility to meet every need.

Our joint customer with IBM, City Furniture, backs up IBM i workloads in PowerVS and has a second VTL for disaster recovery.

FAQs

Do I need two instances of StorSafe VTL to create a DR solution?

You will need two instances of StorSafe VTL for PowerVS to implement the PowerVS DR solution. Optionally, you can replicate to an on-prem StorSafe VTL. The following shows a DR scenario using another region in PowerVS or using an on-prem location.

All data is encrypted in flight and at rest
StorSafe VTL deduplicates images, reducing the size by up to 95% over time
Management console provides excellent visibility to ensure all backups are completed, SLAs met, and, for MSPs, billing based on usage reported

Are there Managed Service Providers that can help me?

Yes. FalconStor or has been working with leading IBM i Managed Service Providers worldwide to protect mission critical IBM i servers that reside within the MSP datacenter, the IBM cloud, or on-premises at customer sites.

What have the IBM i MSPs experiences been?

Meet three IBM i Savvy Managed Service Providers that are servicing IBM i customers with StorSafe and StorSight software world-wide today.

IBM Champion

“40+ Years of IBM Experience”

Larry Bolhuis
Co-President of ilnTheCloud LLC

Chief i-entist at Frankeni
Technology Consulting, LLC

Consulting IBM Champion
IBM i Power Systems

A leading worldwide MSP

“FalconStor was the easiest to deploy, the most scalable, flexible and product that gave us fantastic dedupe ratios.”

Mike Boreham
Technical Lead
Service Express

A prominent Swiss MSP

“I needed a trustworthy, proven solution and that’s why FalconStor was on top of the list.”

Martin Meier
Senior IT Solutions Architect
Wagner AG

Larry Bolhuis is well-known in the IBM i ecosystem. He is the Co-President at iInTheCloud LLC, Chief i-entist at Frankeni Technology Consulting, LLC, and an IBM i and Power Systems Consulting IBM Champion.

Mike Boreham is the Technical Lead at Service Express where he uses StorSafe heavily and reports that “FalconStor was the easiest to deploy, the most scalable, flexible and product that gave us fantastic dedupe ratios.”

Martin Meier is the Senior IT Solutions Architect at Wagner AG and was recently quoted saying that “I needed a trustworthy, proven solution and that’s why FalconStor was on top of the list.” 

How does StorSafe deduplication technology reduce storage costs by up to 95%?

When the backups are received by the StorSafe VTL it uses FalconStor’s patented deduplication technology to discover any redundant information which can be eliminated to reduce the size of the backups. Typically, every Friday the backup administrator does a full backup of the mission-critical application servers. Because the backup data received over time is highly redundant, StorSafe can deliver up to 95% deduplication rates.

What hardware is required to run StorSafe?

Every customer site is going to be different. With StorSafe is software you can use the hardware of your choice, and it stores the backup data on block or object storage.

StorSafe can run in something as small as a single VM or up to nine industry-standard servers. StorSafe stores backups on disk, which of course is much faster than storing them on tapes.

What is the best way to manage instances of StorSafe VTL across sites and clouds?

StorSight delivers management simplicity to StorSafe VTL. Management of all the instances of StorSafe VTL that are being run by all the customers of an MSP is easily achieved.

StorSight provides a central console across all copies of StorSafe VTL and StorGuard that are running across sites and clouds.

StorSight provides real-time visibility into status health and the integrity of backup operations. StorSight provides smarter rules, analytics, reports, and forecasts.

Secure multi-tenancy ensures the highest level of security and Role-Based Administration allows teams to work together without everyone having full administrative power.

Each company or department that is using the StorSafe VTL can be charged for what they use, making StorSight and StorSafe perfect for MSPs wishing to offer migration services for IBM i systems to the MSP or IBM cloud.

What are all 4 use cases for FalconStor software and IBM i, AIX, and Linux systems?

There are four primary use cases for StorSafe VTL:
1. Migrate From On-prem to PowerVS
Migrate workloads and legacy tapes to IBM PowerVS with backup and restore process

2. Hybrid Cloud Backup
Backup on-prem, deduplicate, and send a copy to PowerVS

3. PowerVS-Resident Backup
Back up IBM i, AIX, and Linux workloads in PowerVS via StorSafe VTL for PowerVS

4. PowerVS Disaster Recovery
Replicate workloads in PowerVS to another cloud location for recovery in the event of disaster

The figure below shows the entire FalconStor solution for IBM customers, from protecting data on-premises, migrating workloads to PowerVS, and then protecting them while resident on PowerVS. A single solution supporting on-prem to cloud greatly simplifies IT environments while increasing business continuity.