|
 |
|
General Information
|
Add To My Personal Library |
July 31, 2009
• Vol.31 Issue 20
Page(s) 22-23 in print issue
|
Even NFL Teams Need Protection
Venyu’s Running Backups Guard The Colts
|
 The Indianapolis Colts had two problems, according to Ryan Fannin, director of Football Information Systems. One, the group didn’t have the capacity to back up all the data it needed in case of a disaster, and two, it didn’t have a true offsite disaster recovery solution.
“With backup tape drives failing, it made sense to look into alternatives,” says Fannin. “We considered repairing our old equipment and adding more storage to that solution, but this would have just been a Band-Aid, and the problem would have crept back up in a couple years.”
The Colts’ previous backup system, notes Fannin, did not include offsite security and automation. The process was manual. If it fell victim to a disaster, holes in the previous system could have possibly been revealed. The Colts needed a solution that would protect all of the organization’s sensitive data, including ticketing, financials, statistics, and playbooks.
In addition, says Fannin, “We have a small IT staff, so time is very important. We needed a system that would free up our IT staff to concentrate on other issues rather than just backup tapes and equipment.”
The Colts are now using Venyu’s Online Data Backup service (www.venyu.com) to implement critical pieces to its disaster recovery plan. “Venyu’s solution allows for the recovery of small data losses with only a few clicks of the mouse,” says Fannin. Larger volumes can be returned within a day on a portable disk device that enables reliable disk-to-disk recovery, he adds, and Venyu’s team of technicians operates as an extension of the Colts’ IT department. “They have an in-depth knowledge of our system and are available to support us in planning for the future or in the event of an emergency.”
 Suite Of Services
Venyu, headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., offers a suite of services that provides data protection and recovery, plus it addresses and solves the availability challenges companies face when attempting to retrieve backup information and critical applications. The company’s flagship service is online backup. Waltham, Mass.,-based AmeriVault and Baton Rouge-based NTG merged and created the new company Venyu in April of this year. AmeriVault was an early pioneer in online backup more than a decade ago, and NTG has been a data center services specialist for 20 years. NTG was founded by Venyu CEO Scott Thompson. Venyu currently provides backup and recovery services for five NFL teams.
According to Patrick Tansey, technical team lead at Venyu, after the software is downloaded (which includes the central administrator and the agent), the client can choose between two options: to have the agent to run as a client that seeks other backup targets or to place the agent on each server or desktop. Once the administrator and the client are synchronized, the system is configured for specific tasks, identifying such things as which data to back up, the retention schedule, and encryption levels.
After the tasks are established for each server, clients can either schedule backups to run automatically or manually force a backup to run at any given time. Most backup data is transferred via the Internet; however, for larger volumes, Venyu provides a portable disk device (called a Mobile Vault) to carry the data back to Venyu’s mass storage vaults, adds Tansey.
Tansey explains that after the first backup, which garners all the initial data, only new and block-level changes within files are backed up to the redundant data storage vaults. These changes go through deduplication, compression, and 256-bit AES encryption, resulting in a highly secure offsite backup in a fraction of the time that’s required on a tape backup system.
“Confirmation includes a digital checksum, which constantly performs integrity verification to ensure that the selected data was actually processed and successfully received on the vault side. And an email verification and log report details the backup activities, including exception alerts,” says Tansey.
Product Features
“The online backup service is completely automated and stored offsite in a secure location,” says Fannin. Data is then replicated to
a remote data center at least 1,500 miles away, which avoids impact from regional disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. And compliance regulations are not an issue because Venyu added built-in access controls and audit logs, plus the system is supported by a SAS 70 Type II audit, which satisfies regulatory compliance.
Clients can schedule daily, hourly, or even continuous backups, “and the data access (which is wizard-driven) is always a simple click away,” he adds. Management is centralized through one workstation, which can control an unlimited number of internal or remote servers and/or other workstations. Data is always encrypted regardless of location (onsite or in transit), and successful backups are confirmed via email notification.
Installation is simple, the intuitive interface is easy to use, and it’s all easy to manage; however, “technical support is available 24/7, if needed,” notes Fannin. Currently, Venyu supports Windows, Unix, Linux, Mac, VMware, System i, Novell Netware, and Sun/HP UX/AIX.
Implementation, Installation & Training
According to Fannin, the installation and training were painless. “Basically, we allowed Venyu to remote into our server, and then we implemented the solution together. We did have a couple of installation issues, but, luckily, Venyu’s technical support group was on the line with me, and they were able to get the problems fixed.”
For the Colts, Fannin says, this is a significant improvement from the former routine of finding the right tape, loading it, and then searching through that tape for the right file, he adds.
The service is going just as we hoped,” says Fannin. “The backup window is reduced, there’s little or no time needed for hands-on maintenance, and Venyu’s services give us the confidence that our systems are not only being continually backed up, but that they are also safely stored offsite. The redundant protection of the franchise’s data is what we were looking for in a provider.”
According to Fannin, this solution provided the peace of mind and secure knowledge that the IT staff needed to focus on its day-to-day operations. Knowing that the software is proven, that Fannin and his team get confirmation of successful backups via email notifications, and that Venyu’s technicians are always available handling the backup procedure is priceless.  by Julie Sartain
Venyu Online Data Backup
Offsite data backup service that lets users either schedule backups to run automatically or manually force a backup to run at any given time. Data can be transferred over the Internet, or, for larger volumes, Venyu provides a portable disk device called a Mobile Vault.
“Venyu’s services give us the confidence that our systems are not only being continually backed up, but that they are also safely stored offsite. The redundant protection of the franchise’s data is what we were looking for in a provider,” says Ryan Fannin, director of Football Information Systems for the Indianapolis Colts.
(866) 978-3698
www.venyu.com |
|
|
