Start-up touts SQL back-up product

Start-up Idera last week introduced disk-based back-up and recovery software for Microsoft SQL Server that the company says will let users save and retrieve data faster than tape-based approaches.

Called SQLsafe, the software compresses, encrypts and backs up data to disk for recovery by database administrators (DBA) or other IT staff. The product is intended for organizations that have 10 to 100 SQL Server deployments.

With the software, DBAs can perform full, incremental or differential backups of active SQL databases. SQLsafe backs up data to disk about 50% faster and recovers the data 10 times faster than tape, the company says. It complements traditional tape-based software from Veritas Software and Legato Systems.

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Start-up Idera last week introduced disk-based back-up and recovery software for Microsoft SQL Server that the company says will let users save and retrieve data faster than tape-based approaches.

Called SQLsafe, the software compresses, encrypts and backs up data to disk for recovery by database administrators (DBA) or other IT staff. The product is intended for organizations that have 10 to 100 SQL Server deployments.

With the software, DBAs can perform full, incremental or differential backups of active SQL databases. SQLsafe backs up data to disk about 50% faster and recovers the data 10 times faster than tape, the company says. It complements traditional tape-based software from Veritas Software and Legato Systems.

Because data is written as a disk image rather than tape image, even inexperienced DBAs can recover data if a failure or corruption occurs. Idera says 1T byte of data can be recovered in less than two hours. The compression technology that SQLsafe uses can reduce storage costs by as much as 95%, the company says.

Pat Mong, technology analyst at glass manufacturer PPG Industries in Pittsburgh, was looking for software that could compress his backed-up data and save on disk costs when he encountered Idera.

"We primarily chose SQLsafe because of the disk storage usage issue," Mong says.

"A lot of our storage is on an EMC [storage-area network] that tends to be very expensive. Any way we can reduce the usage of that or not have to ask for more from the SAN staff helps us out from a bottom-line perspective," he says.

Mong has 60 instances of SQL Server running on dual- and quad-processor servers. After testing SQLsafe on these servers, he says he gets 70% or better compression.

SQLsafe is installed on an Intel-based server, where it backs up multiple target SQL Servers. As new SQL Servers are added to the network, SQLsafe discovers them and adds them to the back-up queue. A central repository creates a history of backups and restores.

According to Idera, the company focused on SQL Server because it is the fastest growing relational database. Gartner forecasted in 2003 that SQL Server comprised almost one-fifth of the relational database market, trailing IBM with 36% and Oracle with 33%.

Idera is not without competition. Imceda and BMC Software also focus on SQL Server backups. However, Imceda differs from Idera in that features such as encryption are not a standard part of its software.

Idera also makes migration, configuration management and performance monitoring software specifically for SQL Server.

SQLsafe works with SQL Server v7.0 SP3+, SQL Server 200 Standard Edition, SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition, and SQL Server 2000 Desktop Edition SP3a+.

The software is licensed per instance of SQL Server for $995.

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