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Products | Traveller Continuous Data Protection and Recovery Software |
Traveller CPR FAQ
What is Traveller?
Why Traveller?
Does Traveller conform to the SNIA definition of True CDP?
How does Traveller differ from Snapshots and Backups?
What is Timeshifting?
Why is Virtualization important?
What is "True State" or "Power Consistent" Restoration?
What is Traveller?
Traveller™ CPR is a continuous data protection, recovery and timeshifting platform. It combines continuous data protection with the power of virtualization. With "dial back the clock" simplicity, Traveller restores data to any prior point in time selected, without impact to production and without the overhead of software agents or other host support. The restored data volumes (known as "MakeTime volumes") can then be assigned to servers directly from the Traveller interface with a simple mouse click, and are immediately ready for use by applications in production or offline. Traveller enables IT organizations to:
- Protect Business Continuity
- Rapidly Recover Applications, Systems and Files for Immediate Use
- Minimize Data Loss With "Any Point in Time" Recovery Point Objectives
- Streamline, Automate and Add New Flexibility to Backups
- Perform Backups at any time with No Impact to Production
- Improve Productivity by Timeshifting for Parallel Workflow
Traveller protects all systems (Windows, LINUX, VMWare, Netware, MacOS, Solaris, AIX, UNIX), applications (e.g. Exchange, SQL, Sybase, Oracle) and all storage types across failover site distances spanning systems, rooms, buildings and campuses.
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Why Traveller?
Because your data infrastructure should be protected all the time.
Until now, prescheduled and predefined recovery point methods, such as snapshots and backups, were the most common way to restore corrupted databases, restore systems from data center failures and manage disaster recovery.
Snapshots and backups however leave large protection “gaps” (hours, days) in the time line - the data within one of these gaps is lost in the event of a disaster. In addition, backups and snapshots also require scheduling, impact production, and require a good deal of coordination with applications (often requiring halts or quiesces and separate agent software located on each system). Traveller overcomes these issues and the time gap problem. With Traveller, everything is protected, there are no gaps.
Traveller Fills in the Time Gaps
Most solutions rely on scheduled snapshots and backups that capture only specific points within the time continuum. This can created a plethora of problems from data loss to uncertainty. If you took a snapshot hours before corruption then you lose everything within that time span. The gap. Snapshots and backups only take a picture of a single point in time and they do not capture the entire continuum. The volume of data is also growing, terabytes are the new gigabytes and taking snapshots or doing traditional backups will soon become even more time consuming and inefficient. The amount of data has made it impractical – backup windows no longer exist. Traveller, on the other-hand constantly records the entire continuum so that you have the entire story and not just a point in time snapshot of what happened.
Traveller captures the entire data continuum for the period defined by the user. It timestamps, logs and time sequences every data change. This allows the user to return to any prior point in time, even right up to the moment before the occurrence a data loss/damage event. Traveller retains coherency across all data sets at all points in time in the continuum. As a result, Traveller provides an “any point in time” choice of recovery point objective, substantially reducing the data loss risk.
With Traveller you will no longer have to “mind the gaps” in your continuum because there will no longer be any to mind.
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Does Traveller conform to the SNIA definition of True CDP?
Yes.
The Storage Networking Industry Association or SNIA identifies three characteristics of a true CDP solution:
1. Data changes are continuously captured or tracked;
2. All data changes are stored in a separate location from the primary storage;
3. Recovery point objectives (RPOs) are arbitrary and need not be set, scheduled or defined in advance.
SNIA has defined a "test" that should be met for any true continuous protection approach and Traveller CPR meets these requirements and goes beyond.
Note: “True CDP” restores must be arbitrary (infinite points [all states in time] versus a scheduled specific point in time for recovery). All data changes MUST be captured (not some) and the changes MUST be stored separate from primary storage to minimize failure impacts.
Traveller protects the primary storage providing transparent business continuance storage to applications and separately and asynchronously capturing the changes in a log file. Separately storing all I/O changes is a critical point otherwise in case of a failure to the primary storage systems the changes & time recovery points could be impacted or corrupted.
There are many pretenders and marketing claims around CDP, the majority of offerings on the market are actually snapshot technologies that by definition have protection gaps no matter the number of snapshots allowed (often termed "fine grain" snapshot technology). Beware of marketing terms like “fine grain”, "snapshot-based" or "virtually infinite points of recovery" CDP, it doesn’t matter how fine the grain is it is still a time gap! Therefore by definition it is not continuous and therefore not a True CDP system. Also note that true CDP requires no advanced scheduling or actions be put in place. Snapshots and backups by definition need to be scheduled and therefore require active involvement and user interaction; therefore they are not True CDP.
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How does Traveller differ from Snapshots and Backups?
Most other solutions, even some that claim to be “CDP,” rely upon snapshots -- point in time data captures at intervals within the continuum. The primary problems with relying upon snapshots (backups are a form of snapshot) are data loss and uncertainty. Because they capture only points within the continuum and not the continuum itself, states that existed between those points are lost and cannot be recovered. High risk guesswork ensues. The user must guess how many snapshots or backups to schedule and at what times to take them within any given time frame. This is akin to photographing a sporting event by setting your camera in advance of the event to automatically take photographs at specified intervals. You may be able to avoid taking a bunch of photographs during halftime, but for the most part you have got to hope you are lucky enough to capture the action you want.
The gap problem is exacerbated because of the relationship between the growing volume of data and the time it takes to do a snapshot or backup, and the inverse relationship that snapshot/backup time has to productivity. The more data an enterprise has, the more time it takes to do a snapshot or backup, and the more time they take, the less often they are done. The longer it takes to do a backup, the longer production systems are disrupted, because production systems must be stopped and applications quiesced while taking the snapshot or backup. The greater the negative impact on production of doing snapshots and backups, the less often they are done. When snapshots and backups are performed less often, gaps and the risk of losing data in those gaps grow. As a result, ironically, the gap problem is often at its worst in the places that can least afford the risk of gaps: highly productive, data dependent enterprises.
Traveller solves the gap problem. Traveller captures the entire data continuum for the period defined by the user. Because it has “everything” there are no gaps and there is no guessing. Moreover, Traveller features Timeshifting which, among other things, allows snapshots and backups to be performed with “zero-impact” to production systems. With Timeshifting, a virtual “MakeTime Volume” is created from the precise state selected from the captured data continuum. The snapshot or backup can then be performed using the MakeTime Volume with no impact to production. Decisions like when to snapshot, when to backup, how often, are easier because they can be made or changed after Traveller has already captured the data continuum from which they will be created. To carry forward the previous snapshot analogy, with Traveller, you’ve brought a video camera instead of a still camera to the sporting event, set it to automatically record the whole game, and it does so (while you are eating popcorn, drinking beer and doing ‘The Wave’). Then you can go home and replay any of the action you want, whenever you want.
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What is Timeshifting?
Timeshifting is the name for the technology that Traveller uses to record and deliver different time states of the data while production continues.
Timeshifting technology, enables you to use time addressable copies of your storage to run test servers, create backups, and run other applications. Simply pick a time and create a MakeTime image of your data that can then be used to support concurrent or offline applications. Best of all, you won’t impact normal production. Traveller ‘MakeTime Volumes’ optimize workflow. A MakeTime volume is a Time based image of the data set that can be easily served up to applications for many concurrent uses.
Get more work done in parallel, use MakeTime Volumes for:
- Data Migration
- Data mining and Post analysis
- Auditing and Compliance
- Testing and Forensics
- Offline Processing
- Upgrades and Patches
- Backup and Archival optimizations
Don’t stop running jobs to get these jobs done, do the work in background…Greater productivity, parallel work, less impacts and downtime.
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Why is Virtualization Important?
Flexibility is the key… Virtualization is a very powerful advantage since it hides many of the complex issues inherent with mapping and applying copies or snapshots. It makes the platform hardware independent providing users with greater investment protection, choice and cost savings. Timeshifting is a powerful advantage since it lets you control and use time.
Together you can use Use MakeTime volumes as needed, where needed, when needed to enhance productivity and recovery.
Also, unlike CDP appliances in which host mirrors have to be used and restored images have to replace production images. Traveller instead is a comprehensive system and through the advantages of virtualization and retaining mappings it is simple to apply and reapply volumes when and where needed.
Traveller is not restricted, it works Cross system, across multiple systems, cross application, cross storage and cross site…it protects all your systems.
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What is "True State" or "Power Consistent" Restoration?
Because Traveller™ captures a coherent and holistic view of the data, as well as capturing every write, it allows you to do power-consistent recovery. For example, if an SQL database administrator knows that a corruption occurred to a particular database at 02:15 AM, he or she could restore the database to 02:14 AM and restart the application.
How? Traveller captures a cross-server, cross-application, cross-storage group view of your data at exactly the same moment in time. Your entire operating environment “state” (a coherent and holistic data set image) is exactly as it existed at that point in time. Enabling systems and applications to be recovered reliably, in the same manner as power or crash consistent recovery.
DataCore enables what is known as true state or power consistent recovery.
Modern operating systems and applications understand that power failures occur and incorporate mechanisms to handle recovery from such events.
Note: It is not an easy task to reapply copies or snapshots to operational systems (names, permissions, mappings). Environments constantly change and therefore reapplying copies is error prone and complicated. Traveller has the advantage of virtualization to hide this complexity and make it easy to remap volumes! Traveller MakeTime images are virtual; they retain mapping and namespace information so that they can be easily reapplied effectively, without impact. Storage and the relationship between storage/SANs and applications changes over time, therefore a snapshot image done a week ago still needs to insure that the mappings, permissions, and naming are updated. Traveller virtual volumes handles these complexities.
Snapshot technologies as an example are fragmentary and often do not contain the full or consistent state and the needed mapping information to easily reapply data images to applications and systems. Breaking a mirror and using a copy or applying a snapshot especially in a changing IT environment is no easy task. Traveller MakeTime images are virtual and therefore retain mapping and namespace information so that they can be easily reapplied. Just point and click and apply.
Applications, using traditional backup approaches must be impacted to create a recovery point. Quiescence or coordination specific tools need to be invoked while the backup or snapshot is taken making it complicated, disruptive and error prone.
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