PARAGONPROTECT & RESTORE

Unbeatable Disaster Recovery for Your Clients

A White Paper Prepared by CRN(The Channel Company)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Data has been called “the new currency,” “the new raw material of business,” and even “the new oil.” More than ever, organizations understand the value of the data they collect and generate, and rely on mission-critical information systems to drive sales, build relationships and advance their businesses. Data loss represents the greatest risk to modern organizations, and companies now talk about “business continuity” when they discuss downtime. More often than not, Disaster has less to do with the destruction of brick and mortar than the inability to maintain access to data and applications, although for businesses without the right backup and recovery solutions, the two can go hand in hand.

“PPR is arguably the most user-friendly and robust image-based backup solution and offers unique benefits and unsurpassed opportunities for channel partners who deploy it for their clients.”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Despite these shifting concerns and sensibilities, many organizations are still relying on antiquated approaches to backup and recovery systems. Whether recovery means simply being able to restore a file inadvertently deleted by a user or a site-destroying event, modern backup systems that eschew file-based approaches provide clear advantages to businesses of all sizes.

This paper examines the advantages of image-based backup and recovery solutions over legacy file-based systems, and explores ways that multi-tiered backup can ensure business continuity in a variety of situations. Specifically, Paragon’s Protect & Restore, arguably the most user-friendly and robust solution among image-based backup providers, offers unique benefits and unsurpassed opportunities for channel partners who deploy it for their clients.

FRESH APPROACH TO BACKUP & DR20 Years of Paragon and a Fresh Approach to Backup and DR

Paragon Software Group has spent the last 20 years developing software to support the data security and storage management needs of businesses of all sizes. More recently, it has also begun expanding its portfolio of mobile productivity and reference software, further reinforcing its position as a premier provider of business solutions.

20 Years of Paragon

Over Paragon’s 20 years of creating innovative solutions for everything from multicasting to continuous data protection, the company has developed unparalleled expertise in disk- and file-based backup and DR, as well as system

virtualization, deployment, and hard disk management. Countless OEMs and other technology partners license Paragon file system and imaging tools, while a rapidly growing cadre of businesses, from SMBs to Fortune 500 companies, is relying on data protection solutions by Paragon Software.

Leaving File-Based Backup in the Dust

All of this experience has left Paragon uniquely positioned to develop the most robust, user-friendly, comprehensive backup and recovery solution in the market. Providing performance, granularity and utility that legacy file-based backup systems can’t match, Paragon Protect & Restore (PPR) also offers single-console control of remote, virtual and physical backups that is unique among its image-based competitors.

FRESH APPROACH TO BACKUP & DRStill Innovating for the Channel

Paragon always has been entirely channel-focused, and in keeping with that tradition, PPR offers compelling advantages to the company’s growing network of channel partners. Beyond the business model, which can deliver generous margins for partners, PPR gives the VAR or MSP a genuinely innovative and vigorously supported product for their clients that can scale nicely from the SMB right up to the largest enterprise.

The benefits to the channel are more explicitly described at the end of this paper. However, the advantages of PPR for your clients will become quite apparent as we explore the underlying technologies and approaches.

WHERE FILE-BASED BACKUP FAILSWhere File-Based Backup FailsBefore we examine the general advantages of image-based recovery systems or the particular benefits of Paragon’s latest iteration of their Protect & Restore software, it’s useful to look more closely at the significant problems associated with legacy approaches to backup, namely file-based services. File-based backup, at its most basic level, simply copies files from one medium to another.

Speed (or the lack thereof)Every system administrator, at one point or another, has waited for a file-based backup to complete. Whether this simply involves manually copying files from a user’s hard drive to an external or network drive or completing a full server backup to tape, the process can be brutally slow. Because of the poor performance and substantial overhead on the system being backed up (and the network if the backups are stored on a local or remote file server), most file-based backups occur during off-peak hours. Too often, as much as a day’s worth of work can be lost because file-based backup systems lack the performance to support real-time data protection (or even backups that are more frequent than every night).

WHERE FILE-BASED BACKUPS FAILExchange (enough said)

Microsoft Exchange is frequently cited as the most critical application in any organization. Hugely popular with a massive install base, Exchange drives communication and collaboration for millions of users. It ties into many other business applications both in the Microsoft ecosystem and from third parties, compounding the impact of any problems that might occur with the system. Corrupted Exchange databases, hardware failures and network disruptions all can wreak havoc on the businesses that rely on Exchange.

“Restoring backed up files is a very different proposition from recovering a complete system. Anyone who has attempted to restore an Exchange database from a file-based backup knows the difference between ‘restoring files’ and ‘recovery’ very well.”

Unfortunately, restoring Exchange from file-based backups is woefully inefficient, and system administrators tell horror stories about hundreds of thousands of dollars lost when sales and support staff can’t reach clients for days at a time.

WHERE FILE-BASED BACKUPS FAILVirtualized Environments

Modern hypervisors contain a myriad of low-level enhancements that improve performance and can deliver significant backup, recovery, deployment, and management advantages for virtual guests over physical servers and workstations. Although file-based backup utilities can back up virtual disks, they can’t leverage hypervisor-level tools or effectively support deployment, snapshots, recovery, etc.

WHERE FILE-BASED BACKUPS FAILRecovery vs. File Restoration

As noted, with respect to Microsoft Exchange, restoring backed up files is a very different proposition from recovering a complete system. Anyone who has attempted to restore an Exchange database from a file-based backup knows the difference between ‘restoring files’ and ‘recovery’ very well.”

The performance problems described above also become much more disruptive when it comes time to actually restore a system. Not only can it take an unacceptably long time to copy files from a backup (even using a file-based backup/restore utility), but simply copying the files to a new or repaired system is often only the beginning of a recovery effort. Especially in the case of so-called “bare metal restores,” where a workstation or server must be replaced, often with dissimilar hardware, complete reconfiguration is time-consuming at best and disastrous if the server being recovered is running mission-critical applications. The cost of downtime for a receptionist’s PC can run in the hundreds of dollars but the ripple effect of downtime for an engineer immersed in a high-stakes project can be much greater.

The bottom line is that few organizations can afford downtime at any level; when things go wrong, there simply isn’t time to wait.

PARAGON PROTECT & RESTORE 3: RETHINKING IMAGE-BASED BACKUP

Paragon Protect & Restore 3: Rethinking Image-Based Backup

Paragon takes a very different approach from file-based backup. PPR uses image-based backup, also known as sector-based backup, to rapidly copy every sector - or only used sectors to save time and storage space - of a disc (either virtual or physical) and create an exact replica, or image. PPR then analyzes the disk for changes to individual sectors and can perform nearly continuous, real-time incremental backups of the disk image, ensuring that an updated snapshot of the disk is always ready to restore in the event of data loss or hardware failure.

At a high level, the advantages of image-based backups over file-based solutions are clear, but PPR has additional benefits over its competitors. Just as they leapt ahead of file-based services with their image-based backup tools, Paragon is now leaping ahead even among other image-based providers.

RETHINKING IMAGE-BASED BACKUP

How It Works

PPR has several components that work together to ensure seamless, regular backup of workstations and servers in physical, virtual, and hybrid environments. The PPR console can be installed on any physical or virtual Windows desktop or server and provides a single interface for managing backup and recovery across an organization. Installing PPR on one or more servers provides the ability to create multiple backup servers to distribute the workload (PPR leverages Active Directory so it must be installed on a Windows Server with Active Directory services running, although the server(s) does not need to be dedicated to PPR).

Highlights of particular functions and configurations are outlined [on the following slides].

Once the server and console applications are installed, creating backup policies for every machine on a network becomes a matter of pointing and clicking within the console: 1. Define storage media as backup targets. 2. Silently push agents to Windows systems joined to the Active Directory. 3. Set up agentless backups on all VMware hosts for any guests supported by ESX. 4. Add agent-based backup for Windows guests on Hyper-V, Oracle and Citrix hosts. 5. Define backup schedules and routines. This isn’t an oversimplification. The process is remarkably easy and intuitive.

RETHINKING IMAGE-BASED BACKUP (HOW IT WORKS)

High Performance and Redundancy

PPR is designed to be modular in nature to improve performance, scalability and redundancy. Administrators can define multiple backup servers and storage targets and create sophisticated multi-tiered backup policies with simply a basic understanding of their own network architecture.

Because PPR can create local backups (e.g., to an attached USB drive), network backups (to a file server, NAS appliance or SAN) and off-site backups via FTP (to the cloud or a remote office location), backup images can be maintained on-site on high-speed disks for optimum performance, faster recovery and near-real-time updates. These backups can then be archived off-site for disaster recovery, longer-term retention, and less expensive storage of multiple incremental backups for recovery to virtually any point in time.

“In roughly 90% of all restore cases, the local site is operational and only an individual machine requires restoration, in which case the primary storage destination also provides the best restore performance. Two-tiered backup scenarios let organizations maximize performance and availability and reduce long-term storage costs.”

RETHINKING IMAGE-BASED BACKUP (HOW IT WORKS)

Virtual, Physical and Everywhere in Between

Although PPR is Microsoft Windows-centric with backup agents for Windows PCs and Active Directory integration for its backup server and console, the solution is also especially well-suited to virtualized and hybrid environments. PPR provides agentless backup for all VMware guests, regardless of the guest operating system. A Hyper-V bridge is under development as well, which will deliver similar agentless capabilities on Microsoft’s popular hypervisor.

Whether running strictly physical servers and workstations or operating in any of the popular virtualized environments, PPR supports full backup capabilities, managed from the console. Because the backups are image-based, recovery tools (also managed from the console) can be used to ease deployment of virtual servers and desktops by replicating and restoring VM images.

Don’t Forget Dedupe

Unlike many backup solutions, PPR includes native data deduplication. This can substantially reduce storage needs, especially for longer-term storage of incremental backups. Organizations are able to retain daily, weekly and monthly backups longer and restore in a much more granular and specific fashion to a particular point in time.

RETHINKING IMAGE-BASED BACKUP (HOW IT WORKS)

Other Key Features

PPR includes several other valuable features that work in concert with its image-based approach to ensure absolute business continuity and make it easy for IT to support user needs:

• Exchange Server protection: Built-in backup and restore algorithms for Exchange allow users to begin sending and receiving email even while the database is still being restored after a failure.

• Policy validation: PPR can check whether the backup policies defined by administrators will work correctly.

• Recovery ID: Automation of remote recovery operations minimizes the time and effort, as well as the opportunity for error, by eliminating the need for on-site IT personnel.

• Email notifications: Multiple administrators can be notified in real-time of events and errors based on rules they set.

• Bare-metal restore: PPR includes tools to restore images to dissimilar hardware, with particularly useful tools for GPT/UEFI configurations.

• Near-instant virtualization: PPR’s proprietary, optimized backup image format can quickly be converted to boot up in most popular hypervisors, giving users access to applications, files or their own desktops, even if physical hardware is temporarily unavailable.

• File-level recovery: Just because the backups are image-based doesn’t mean that administrators can’t recover individual files and folders for users. In fact, restoring accidentally deleted or modified files is the most common user request for backup and recovery solutions.

RETHINKING IMAGE-BASED BACKUP (HOW IT WORKS)

One Console to Rule Them All

From an administrator’s perspective, one of the most striking features of Protect & Restore is the unified management console. The console application is completely consistent across all of its functions, making restoring a machine just as intuitive as setting up a backup policy or pushing an agent to a desktop. The interface is fast, clean and uncluttered, allowing administrators to save time and effort when focusing on recovery or creating robust backup policies.

RETHINKING IMAGE-BASED BACKUP (HOW IT WORKS)

The Real Goal: Disaster Recovery

This, of course, is the real goal behind any backup solution. The backups themselves are far less important than the ability to quickly recover from data loss or interruption of an application and ensure business continuity. With file-based backup systems, especially when restoring complex systems like Microsoft Exchange or restoring an end user’s environment on a new workstation after a hardware failure, recovery can take days. The best image-based systems can reduce that time to minutes in virtual environments, or well under an hour for physical systems. Few businesses can achieve the data center ideal of five nines (99.999% uptime), but PPR is arguably the best solution for minimizing downtime across all of an organization’s systems, whether sitting on a desktop or running on an enterprise-class server in a data center.

CONCLUSION: 100% CHANNEL=GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

Conclusion: 100% Channel = Golden Opportunity

Paragon Protect & Restore 3 is an outstanding solution for image-based backup and recovery. It is easy to use, easier to deploy, and handles physical and virtual environments with equal aplomb. However, because Paragon sells its software exclusively through the channel, MSPs and VARs have a golden opportunity to

1. Provide a best-of-breed solution to their clients and

2. Achieve high margins through PPR sales or adding PPR to their subscription services portfolio.

Most midsize and large businesses already have backup solutions in place. Yet many still rely on file-based backup and are vulnerable to all of the weaknesses inherent in these tools. For the VAR or MSP that can demonstrate the benefits of PPR over their clients’ current solutions, the sales opportunities are significant. As organizations move to virtualized environments, the need for robust recovery solutions that play well with virtual machines and hypervisors is increasing exponentially. A great backup and recovery application is a very reasonable upsell as channel partners guide their clients through this transition and educate them on the value of data safety, security and best practices for business continuity.

ABOUT PARAGON SOFTWARE GROUP

ABOUT PARAGON SOFTWARE

Founded in 1994, Paragon Software offers a complete line of backup & disaster recovery (BDR), imaging, virtualization and hard disk management solutions. Paragon serves its customers and partners from offices around the world, delivering its software and services to SMB and large enterprise customers through a network of VARs, MSPs, DMRs and OEMs, as well as online through the company web site. www.paragon-software.com.

To learn more about Paragon Protect & Restore or the company’s partner program, please visit www.protect-restore.com.