A new series of data-backup and disaster-recovery appliances has been unveiled by a company this week. The appliances combine a server, hard-drive cache, tape library, and the Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) software application in a turnkey solution.
According to Kevin Hoffman, vice president of sales at Hoffman Technologies, this product brings an enterprise-level storage solution with full TSM support to smaller businesses. Hoffman mentioned that most smaller customers are not interested in TSM due to the high cost of integration. However, he expects customers’ perceptions to change with this fully integrated solution.
The latest family of appliances, which incorporates a Sony tape library using AIT drive technology, marks the company’s first aimed at small businesses. Ellen Rome, vice president of channel sales and marketing at StorServer, highlighted this new offering.
The Y-series solution includes a 4U rack-mount server with hard-disk-based storage and a 2U Sony AIT tape library. John Sorensen, vice president of manufacturing at StorServer, explained that customers need to do a full backup to the appliance when first installed. After that, TSM allows for incremental changes to be backed up to disk first and then to tape.
For small business clients looking to implement a disaster recovery program, the Y-series is worth considering. Hoffman mentioned that TSM includes Disaster Recovery Manager, which helps create a disaster-recovery plan for customers.
The Y-series appliances come in different configurations and price points, starting at $12,900. They are available to both StorServer and Sony solution providers. StorServer currently sells its products exclusively through solution providers and offers margins of up to 35 percent on the integrated solution.
Implementation is currently done by StorServer, but the company is looking to certify partners who can sell and install the appliances after training and certification.