Virtual TapeServer 8.0 Configuration Guide

Introduction | 3
needed, it can be discarded just like a physical tape. A virtual tape is synonymous with a file
in a directory.
Overview of features
The heart of VTS is a middleware tape emulation engine that enables VTS to emulate tape
storage to host servers and provides backup storage for the data on industry standard, low-
cost disk arrays. Data stored in VTS can later be copied to real tape media for archival storage
or disaster recovery if long-term backup copies are required. The advantages of this approach
include the following:
• Access to data in VTS is almost immediate, and there is no tape to mount or rewind and
no searching through tape volumes for data files.
• If additional tape storage is needed, you can create virtual tapes using the VTS web
interface without involving the host server. A tape that is individually exported using
tape-to-tape export by VTS is identical to one made by the host application directly and
can be read on any host server, including sites without VTS.
• Dynamic Data Reduction, which allows VTS to compress files as they are written to disk
storage devices. Its use can provide up to 12 times the available storage capacity and
reduce the amount of associated storage costs. This feature uses an “on-the-fly”
compression algorithm that creates little processor overhead and can increase
performance and throughput by decreasing the volume of data written to disk.
The following VTS features enable you to simplify and streamline tape operations from the
host server, reduce costs for storage, automate backup and restore operations, and increase
flexibility in managing backed-up data:
• Flexible and extendable, enabling you to create any number of virtual tape pools that
“contain” any number of virtual tapes
• Compatibility with TMF Backup and Restore
• Compatibility with Mediacom and DSM/TC
• Support for migration through the use of backup management applications
Optional features that further enhance the benefits of VTS include the following:
• Global File System (GFS) support — Offers enhanced access to shared vaults and
eliminates single points of failure by deploying multiple VTS systems into a set of
clustered nodes. In the event of a failure, GFS enables any active VTS system in the
cluster to have access to the data, ensuring uninterrupted service to host systems.
• Data Replication — Enables the creation of a disaster recovery plan by efficiently copying
or synchronizing backup data between a local VTS server and one or more remote VTS
sites. This allows for maintaining one or more copies of backup data at a remote site. After
the initial backup is copied to one or more remote locations, only that portion of the
backup data that has changed since the last backup is transmitted from the local site to
the remote site.
• Data Encryption— Encrypts and decrypts backup data written on disk from one or more
host servers. Compliance regulations and organizations highly recommend the encryption
of valuable data; Data Encryption provides a robust encryption solution that deploys on
existing hardware. Industry-standard 256-bit AES symmetric key encryption is used.