HP StorageWorks D2D4000 review

EXCLUSIVE

Most deduplication appliances have been unable to address the issues of replicating this data across remote sites without requiring a secondary solution and high-cost, high-bandwidth links. Until now, that is. HP's LBR is designed to enable deduplication and offsite replication to be consolidated into a single product that can use lost-cost links between sites.

The D2D4000 amalgamates virtual tape libraries (VTLs) and HP's own dynamic deduplication technology. It can present up to sixteen VTLs over iSCSI and FC enabling it to support as many servers for simultaneous backup operations.

Initial appliance setup and iSCSI host connections are handled smartly by a wizard driven routine.

When configuring VTLs you can choose from four library emulations and opt for LTO-2, LTO-3 or LTO-4 virtual tape drives. Depending on the model, the D2D4000 appliances can emulate up to 24 virtual tape devices and support up to 3,456 virtual tape cartridges

Deduplication is included as standard and activating the LBR feature only requires a single license for the designated replication target. There are no hidden costs as the licence allows the target to be used immediately by as many source appliances as it can support.

The appliance's web interface is well designed and provides easy access to the various features.

Plenty of replication scenarios are on offer and start with a simple active/passive option where VTLs are replicated from a source appliance to a target. For an active/active setup, VTLs on each side of the link would be replicated across both appliances.

Target appliances can handle up to four sources so it's possible to replicate VTLs from different locations to a central appliance. Fan-out is another alternative that enables multiple source VTLs to be replicated to different targets.