Toronto-based data storage and recovery provider Asigra, which has been doing networked data backup since the IT dark ages (1986), on Aug. 29 introduced and is demonstrating a new automated backup appliance at VMworld 2018 in Las Vegas.
The TrueNAS Backup Appliance is the result of a partnership with San Jose, Calif.-based iXsystems. The package combines Asigra Cloud Backup V14 software with iXsystems’ TrueNAS storage and features the OpenZFS open source file system and volume management for flexibility, the company said.
The software combination converges data protection and new-gen cybersecurity to counter rapidly growing malware attacks on backup data, including that of ransomware Attack-Loops. Asigra Cloud Backup allows IT and backup administrators to safeguard business data using automation and a user-friendly console that simplifies often-complicated managed backup.
High Availability, Scalability Features
iXsystems’ TrueNAS hybrid storage systems offers high availability and scalability. Models include the Asigra TrueNAS Backup Appliance X10, X20, M40 and M50, providing a range of capacities from 60TB to 10PB.
Asigra’s enterprise-class client and backup system software will also be made available to run on the hundreds of thousands of FreeNAS systems in deployment, including the FreeNAS Mini, the company said. Remote FreeNAS systems and their associated clients and servers can be backed up via Asigra to a larger TrueNAS or FreeNAS system with global deduplication, instant recovery and RansomWare protection, Asigra said.
As multi-functional storage, the appliances also can be used as a general-purpose network-attached storage as well, providing support for conventional operating systems, hypervisors and applications. The systems provide the choice of SMB (Server Message Block), AFP (Apple Filing Protocol ) or NFS (the Sun-created Network File System) for file storage, iSCSI for block storage, or AWS’s Simple Storage Service-compatible application programming interfaces for object storage appliances.
They include a future-proof 128-bit scale-up OpenZFS file system for continuous use. All systems scale as needed, offer flexible snapshotting and replication, and data integrity with self-healing bit rot mitigation.
Software rot refers to the slow degradation in the performance of computer software. Such software shows diminished responsiveness, lacks updates, may become faulty overtime due to changes in the operating system on which it runs, and thus may need upgrading.
Pricing and Availability
The Asigra TrueNAS Backup Appliance is available now through authorized partners and is being shown for the first time at Asigra’s VMworld booth #2230 and iXsystems’ booth #2224 through Aug. 30. Pricing starts at $10,000 for an appliance configured with 60TB of storage and scales based on configuration.
For more information on the TrueNAS X10, X20, M40, M50 platforms, go here.