Whether you're using Veeam, Nakivo, Symantec, Quest or other backup software, you need a backup repository. In this post we'll explore the options of this StarWind Backup appliance backed by NVMe drives. As you can imagine, the speed of backups will increase and your backup window decrease. This is ideal candidate to shrink your backup window.
In general, as an administrator, you have problems with space, but also with time. Your backup window is not extensible, right? In order to finish all your backup jobs in time, you need a super fast backup repository!
The one from StarWind uses Intel NVMe SSDs, Xeon Ice Lake CPUs, and GRAID.
What is StarWind Backup Appliance?
Simply put, it's a hardware box with preinstalled software. It has NVMe SSDs from Intel, CPUs from Intel and GRAID instead of traditional RAID card. GRAID has performance advantage over traditional RAID because it uses NVidia GPU. GRAID cards perform the complex calculations needed to support RAID using an NVIDIA GPU. Data flows to and from drives using a virtual NVMe driver. The SupremeRAID is essentially an offload engine so the CPU usage is lower and can be used for something else.
What is GRAID?
GRAID liberates CPUs from RAID load, freeing up the otherwise burdened compute to ensure the smoothest data protection and performance of any applications, even the most IOPS-hungry ones. GRAID has shown an astounding 16M IOPS and 110 GB/s throughput in a configuration of RAID5 with 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon Scalable Platform. StarWind Backup Appliance incorporates all those components, so you can expect the same fully future-proof functionality for your systems.
The StarWind solution comes ready-to-backup, includes a unified management web UI and ProActive Support with call-back-home, machine learning, and automatic troubleshooting for flawless 24/7 operation.
Screenshot from the StarWind website.
StarWind Backup Appliance uses NVMe drives collected in software RAID as backup repository. It can be deployed as Linux Hardened Repository or Standard Linux Repository with Veeam Backup & Replication using the Veeam Data Mover Service. Additionally, StarWind Backup Appliance can present backup repository over iSCSI and NVMe-oF. It has built-in immutability against ransomware, extremely fast backups and restores, and large capacity drives.
Quote:
StarWind Backup Appliance now fully removes the usual RAID bottleneck and brings close to 100% NVMe SSD performance thanks to GRAID. Common hardware RAID cards weren’t designed to work with ultra-fast NVMe flash. Software RAID also trotted behind and would substantially diminish the NVMe performance potential while also consuming huge amounts of CPU power. GRAID ensures maximum NVMe performance, reliable data protection, and impressive flexibility at very low TCO.
See the hardware specs on the image below.
All-NVMe design, along with StarWind-native NVMe-oF Initiator, makes backup infrastructure faster than primary storage, enabling lightning-fast backup and restore.
Screenshot from the GRAID pdf comparing traditional RAID with GRAID SupremeRAID solution… Interesting.
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Final Words
Whether you need to shorten your backup window and have a secure backup repository with immutability for your environment, check out StarWind's Backup Appliance which gives you speed via NVMe, RAID via GRAID and premium support. You are few clicks to have a blazing fast backup repository for primary backups that not only allow you to shrink your backup window, but also allows you to have fast restores too.
More posts about StarWind on ESX Virtualization:
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- 5 Easy Steps to be more resilient with Two Hosts only – StarWind VSAN
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- You can’t extend backup window – Check NVMe Backup Appliance from StarWind
- Replacing Aging Hardware SAN Device by a Software – StarWind VSAN
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- Veeam 3-2-1 Backup Rule Now With Starwind VTL
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- StarWind VSAN on 3 ESXi Nodes detailed setup
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