ITGumbo: spicing IT up

Larger companies have the IT resources for complex, multi-tiered storage systems, but personal storage for small businesses and consumers, says the survey is “all about simplistic, but foolproof and effective solutions.” While corporate enterprises of all sizes continues to sort out the geometric growth of business data, the little guys now have more personal and business data than ever before and must tackle many of the same issues. CDs, DVDs, and flash drives have limited capacity – and external hard drives lack portability and are not ideal for long-term archiving.

So what are small business road warriors and data-intensive consumer computer users to do?

Storage, in many environments, is a lot like dating. Storage seekers, like daters, are often faced with uncertainties. There can be some challenges. For storage seekers – these challenges include projecting ongoing capacity requirements. Also, both are often left second-guessing decisions they make along the way: Did I make the right choices? Should I revisit the issue at some point? Is there a way I could have done it more efficiently? These are typical qualms facing data keeper and daters when evenings come to an end.

For those seeking a fulfilling relationship with a personal storage solution, Tandberg Data, a global supplier of backup and archiving technologies, has addressed these issues with its RDX QuikStor product. Tandberg Data recently added a 300GB cartridge to the popular RDX QuikStor. The new addition will ease the minds of data keepers clamoring for better and easier backup solutions.

The RDX QuikStor is a disk-based, removable storage system with portable hard drive cartridges that can be used to quickly add storage to any PC or network. The interchangeable cartridges, which come in 40GB, 80GB, 120GB, 160GB — and now 300GB — offer a rugged design that is shock-proof for protection of personal and business data even when outside of the drive bay. The 300GB drive can be purchased through Tandberg Data’s established channel of distribution and resale partners for $499. The unit itself starts at $349 for a drive with a 40GB cartridge. Cartridge prices start at $115 for 40GB.

The RDX QuikStor backup solution targets the large, unpredictable, and often hard to please SOHO (small office / home office) and SMB (small and medium-sized business) markets. According to the IDC survey, more than 60% of SMBs with less than 100 employees use external hard drives. When those respondents were asked why they selected this device, the answers were quite similar for both business and consumer respondents. The top reason was the improved ability to protect content and perform backups. SMBs, like SOHOs, all want their data to be safe, secure, and accessible. For that, RDX fits the bill – and includes the added benefit of portability, which IDC says is increasingly more important to these market segments.

Another set of users highlighted in the IDC survey are SOHOs and consumers who are clearly data backup laggards. Their backup behavior is shocking: only 73% of the SOHO users who have a personal backup device backup at least monthly, and only 40% back up daily. Consumer statistics are even worse. According to IDC only 50% of consumers back up at least monthly and only 18% backup daily. And bear in mind, these were all respondents who indicated they owned personal storage devices – they just don’t use them that often. This highlights a big issue: most SOHOs and consumers are not adequately protecting their data. These storage slackers are putting a great deal of data at risk.

In the past, these markets were restricted to low-cost storage solutions that may not have offered the performance or the reliability needed to back up and recover critical data. Now, with the RDX, these users have an attractive and reliable alternative due to its high-quality design, simplicity, portability, and low cost per Gbyte.

The RDX QuikStor offers users flexibility and investment protection while providing a secure, fast, and easy-to-use backup and archiving solution for data. Tandberg Data’s RDX, also available from Dell as the RD1000, is becoming an attractive alternatives to the masses because it solves many of the issues associated with more complicated or cumbersome tape solutions, thus making it an ideal replacement for entry-level, tape-based backup solutions. The IDC survey supports this conclusion as only 6% of respondents listed tape usage as their most popular backup option.

While experts agree that tape will never completely disappear from the backup and archival landscape – it’s a well-documented staple of every Fortune 100 data center – this new-generation disk-based solution is showing up in more and more places – from graphic design shops and law offices to veterinary clinics and insurance agencies. As well as being less expensive than a most tape solutions, one of the big advantages of disk-based backup is that it’s a lot faster than tape alternatives available to SOHO and SMB users. RDX media is randomly accessed, so stored files can be immediately retrieved without time-consuming sequential searches. Single files or selected volumes can be restored in minutes instead of hours.

The ever-increasing need for companies to back up data brings with it a number of compliance requirements, such as those imposed by SEC and HIPAA mandates. By adding devices like Tandberg's RDX QuikStor to the mix, companies small and large can protect business data – even that of highly mobile – and often elusive – laptop users. RDX offers customers who are on the move a simple and affordable technology to meet compliance demands, all with a distinct competitive advantage over traditional tape solutions.

The uses of removable cartridge-based storage systems are near limitless, ranging from medical imaging and video surveillance systems to use in engineering design workstations and other high-performance desktop applications that involve managing large files and large volumes of data.

The RDX is also in use by video producers and editors as a cost effective solution for high-bandwidth content creation applications like uncompressed standard and high-definition video editing and film digital indexing. The removable cartridges are particularly useful for transporting these files between offices or to client sites for presentation and review.

Users need simply to take the unit out of the box, plug it into any USB 2.0 or 1.1 port on any desktop or notebook, provide power, and the unit is up and running. The device sets up in minutes, immediately adding up to 300 Gbytes of native storage to any PC or server. Also impressive is the backup and disaster-recovery software bundled with the RDX: Symantec’s Backup Exec QS backup software, which retails at $699 for the full edition. The software is managed through an easy-to-navigate interface. For optimal performance the drive must be connected to a USB 2.0 port. A step-by-step instruction guide is also included, which makes the process simple for any user, especially for those users with little or no IT experience.

As with any relationship, there is also a rumor mill that must be either regarded or ignored, contingent upon what is deemed to be simply hearsay. One rumor slicing through the online ether since the launch of the RDX is that the product will, in fact, get a facelift to make it more hip and increase its appeal to the iPod, multimedia generation.

Whether you agree with the tongue-in-cheek dating analogy or not, one thing that can be taken seriously is how well the RDX performs – the unit is blisteringly fast. It can backup 80 Gbytes in less than an hour – and requires only a few milliseconds to access files. The RDX offers the traditional benefits of tape – reliability, portability, archive life, and low cost – with the performance, speed, random access, and ease of use of hard disk technology. For even the smallest SOHO or SMB, RDX QuikStor is affordable and delivers a complete turnkey backup-and-recovery solution.

For a dependable date for your data that requires no maintenance – try the RDX. It may not be heaven-sent, but it’s a date that won’t leave you disappointed.