CA BrightStor® ARCserve® Backup Enhances
Disk to Disk to Tape Processing
by Jeffrey Limpert, CA Senior Instructor
CA has added a new feature which allows backup
administrators to setup and manage Disk to
Disk to Tape (D2D2T) operations with the
introduction of the Disk Staging Option
in BrightStor ARCserve Backup (r 11.5).
D2D2T allows traditional backup jobs
destined for tape media to first be copied to a
specially configured File System Device
which is treated as an intermediate and
temporary backup area before being migrated to
its usual target. File System Devices are
directories used as backup media and offer the
advantage of being relatively inexpensive and
faster than tape drives. They have also served
as Near Line Storage repositories allowing
administrators with extra capacity to keep their
backups available for restoration without having
to call for a tape to be returned from its
off-site location.
Disk Staging is based on the well
accepted IT practice that in order for data to
be better protected it is necessary to move the
backup media to a second location which is
preferably off-site, so if the BrightStor
ARCserve Backup server, or the building that
houses it is damaged the backed up data has a
better chance of survivability. Since File
System Devices are fixed to one location they
are generally not deemed acceptable as a final
location. Some archiving and compliance
standards may also require the use of specific
types of media which would not include fixed
hard disk space.
Prior to BrightStor ARCserve Backup (r. 11.5)
storage administrators had to enter commands
from a prompt or write scripts to copy data from
their File System Devices in order to place the
data on tapes so that it could be then be
transported to a second location to comply with
policies, use in the event of a natural
disaster, severe technical failure, or simple
user request to restore a file.
D2D2T removes the complexities that
arise when companies scale up to larger
implementations of Disk Staging by automating
the configuration, migration and cleanup of
staged backup jobs. It does this by offering a
GUI tool to convert a standard File System
Device to a Staging Area. Jobs using
staging are automatically routed to the now
common Staging Area where they are held until
the conditions of the policy are met. After
specified times are met the staged data is 1)
copied to it's final destination, 2)
held for what is deemed an appropriate period in
order to ensure the safe delivery of the tape(s)
to the off-site repository and as mentioned
earlier held to facilitate rapid restore of
data, and 3) the data is finally purged,
or deleted, from the staging area in order to
reclaim space for additional backups.
D2D2T also serves smaller and
mid-sized organizations as well because the same
simple to use interface allows a Staging Area to
be configured in minutes regardless of the
amount of data an administrator plans to pass
through it.
BrightStor ARCserve Backup continues to
evolve with the IT industry taking advantage of
new standards as they become adopted. D2D2T
is only one example of this process.
To learn more about this topic and
integration with other BrightStor® products,
please register for
BrightStor ARCserve Backup for Windows:
Implementation and Administration (course
code BR400).
Jeffrey Limpert has over 20 years of
IT experience as an instructor, course
developer, project manager, network analyst,
network operations manager, consultant, support
manager and sales representative. He has worked
in both the public and private sectors.
The depth and breadth of his experience
allows him to provide guidance and leadership to
students from many industries and many areas of
responsibility. As a courseware developer he
translates students' needs so software features
are clearly highlighted.
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