ss friedrich miescher institute en
SUCCESS STORY
Veeam Backup & Replication Streamlines DR Testing at International Biomedical Research Institute “Veeam Backup & Replication has completely changed how we do disaster recovery testing. This product is absolutely amazing… you’ll do yourself a huge favor by using Veeam.” — Dean Flanders Head of Informatics Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
The Business Challenge INDUSTRY:
Pharmaceutical and scientific research ORGANIZATION:
Located in Basel, Switzerland, the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research is part of the Novartis Research Foundation and affiliated with the University of Basel. It is devoted to fundamental biomedical research and focuses on epigenetics, signaling and cancer, and neurobiology.
THE CHALLENGE: Automate disaster recovery (DR) testing with fast and verifiable backups of virtual machines (VMs).
As part of the Novartis Research Foundation, the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) must comply with strict disaster recovery (DR) standards sanctioned by Novartis, including regular DR testing of the IT infrastructure. FMI’s IT infrastructure consists of 10 physical servers, three VMware hosts and 60 virtual machines (VMs). All mission-critical databases and applications run on VMs, which include Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Active Directory and Web servers. “We are an IT staff of seven, and DR testing of our infrastructure used to take two weeks to complete, putting a huge drain on everyone,” said Dean Flanders, Head of Informatics at FMI. “It was a complicated and lengthy process because we backed up the VMs with the same backup tool we use with the physical servers. Clearly, we needed to save time and effort by automating the DR testing procedure with a backup product designed specifically for the virtual environment. We had specific criteria in mind: fast, verifiable backups and being able to start a VM without doing a full recovery.”
The Veeam Solution Dean and his colleagues chose Veeam Backup & Replication™ to automate FMI’s DR testing process, reducing the two-week timeframe to two days. “Veeam is the only backup solution we found that successfully automates and simplifies our DR testing process so we can abide by Novartis’ strict standards and make the most of staff time,” he explained. “That lets us devote our time and energy to supporting FMI’s scientists and their research rather than spending two weeks in testing mode.” FMI’s IT staff was able to automate the DR testing process because of vPower™, the breakthrough technology in Veeam Backup & Replication that runs a VM directly from a compressed and deduplicated backup file. vPower provides farreaching capabilities, including SureBackup™, which enables the team to verify the recoverability of every backup, of every VM, every time. vPower also lets team members quickly restore exactly what they need, whether that’s the entire VM, a particular VMDK file or specific application or user data. In addition, vPower enables Instant VM Recovery, which means the IT staff can start a VM from a backup in minutes. “Not only did Veeam Backup & Replication automate and reduce our annual DR testing from two weeks to two days, it also made more frequent testing possible,” Dean added. “Our goal is to move toward monthly testing and then fully automated
To learn more, visit: www.veeam.com
SUCCESS STORY
THE SOLUTION: • Veeam Backup & Replication™
RESULTS: • Reduces DR testing process from two weeks to two days • Fast, easy recovery provides peace of mind • Cuts VM backup time by 50 percent and backup space by two-thirds
tests each weekend. We can accomplish frequent testing with Veeam’s SureBackup and Instant VM Recovery, which we found to be unique in the industry. Veeam is in a league of its own. Being able to verify the recoverability of our VMs automatically gives my colleagues and me complete peace of mind.”
The Results Reduces DR testing process from two weeks to two days Before FMI’s IT staff implemented Veeam Backup & Replication, the yearly DR testing process was lengthy and arduous. With Veeam, it’s quick and easy, and more frequent testing is now possible. SureBackup makes it possible for FMI’s IT staff to easily test every backup and ensure recoverability. And, it automates the entire verification process without additional hardware or staff, which is key for FMI’s small IT staff of seven.
Fast, easy recovery provides peace of mind Veeam Backup & Replication is straightforward and easy to use. “Recovery is so incredibly simple with Veeam. My holidays are worry-free now because I am confident that anyone on my staff can recover our VMs. Veeam is practically foolproof.”
Cuts VM backup time by 50 percent and backup space by two-thirds When FMI’s IT staff performed incremental backups of VMs with the same tool used for physical servers, the process took 10 hours. With Veeam Backup & Replication, incremental backups take five hours. Veeam also enables FMI to back up to disk (tape was used before), which speeds recovery. And, because of Veeam’s compression and deduplication functionality, backups require two-thirds less storage space than before.
About Veeam Software Veeam Software, an Elite VMware Technology Alliance Partner, develops innovative software to manage VMware vSphere®. Veeam Backup & Replication with vPower™ provides advanced Virtualization-Powered Data Protection™ and is the #1 VM backup solution. Veeam nworks extends enterprise monitoring to VMware and includes the Veeam nworks Management Pack™ for VMware management in Microsoft System Center and the Veeam nworks Smart Plug-in™ for VMware management in HP Operations Manager. Veeam ONE™ provides a single solution to optimize the performance, configuration and utilization of vSphere environments and includes: Veeam Monitor™ for easy-to-deploy VMware monitoring; Veeam Reporter™ for VMware capacity planning, change tracking and documentation; and Veeam Business View™ for VMware business service management and categorization. Learn more about Veeam Software by visiting www.veeam.com.
To learn more, visit: www.veeam.com © 2011 Veeam Software. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 09212011
Veeam Backup & Replication Streamlines DR Testing at International Biomedical Research Institute “Veeam Backup & Replication has completely changed how we do disaster recovery testing. This product is absolutely amazing… you’ll do yourself a huge favor by using Veeam.” — Dean Flanders Head of Informatics Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
The Business Challenge INDUSTRY:
Pharmaceutical and scientific research ORGANIZATION:
Located in Basel, Switzerland, the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research is part of the Novartis Research Foundation and affiliated with the University of Basel. It is devoted to fundamental biomedical research and focuses on epigenetics, signaling and cancer, and neurobiology.
THE CHALLENGE: Automate disaster recovery (DR) testing with fast and verifiable backups of virtual machines (VMs).
As part of the Novartis Research Foundation, the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) must comply with strict disaster recovery (DR) standards sanctioned by Novartis, including regular DR testing of the IT infrastructure. FMI’s IT infrastructure consists of 10 physical servers, three VMware hosts and 60 virtual machines (VMs). All mission-critical databases and applications run on VMs, which include Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Active Directory and Web servers. “We are an IT staff of seven, and DR testing of our infrastructure used to take two weeks to complete, putting a huge drain on everyone,” said Dean Flanders, Head of Informatics at FMI. “It was a complicated and lengthy process because we backed up the VMs with the same backup tool we use with the physical servers. Clearly, we needed to save time and effort by automating the DR testing procedure with a backup product designed specifically for the virtual environment. We had specific criteria in mind: fast, verifiable backups and being able to start a VM without doing a full recovery.”
The Veeam Solution Dean and his colleagues chose Veeam Backup & Replication™ to automate FMI’s DR testing process, reducing the two-week timeframe to two days. “Veeam is the only backup solution we found that successfully automates and simplifies our DR testing process so we can abide by Novartis’ strict standards and make the most of staff time,” he explained. “That lets us devote our time and energy to supporting FMI’s scientists and their research rather than spending two weeks in testing mode.” FMI’s IT staff was able to automate the DR testing process because of vPower™, the breakthrough technology in Veeam Backup & Replication that runs a VM directly from a compressed and deduplicated backup file. vPower provides farreaching capabilities, including SureBackup™, which enables the team to verify the recoverability of every backup, of every VM, every time. vPower also lets team members quickly restore exactly what they need, whether that’s the entire VM, a particular VMDK file or specific application or user data. In addition, vPower enables Instant VM Recovery, which means the IT staff can start a VM from a backup in minutes. “Not only did Veeam Backup & Replication automate and reduce our annual DR testing from two weeks to two days, it also made more frequent testing possible,” Dean added. “Our goal is to move toward monthly testing and then fully automated
To learn more, visit: www.veeam.com
SUCCESS STORY
THE SOLUTION: • Veeam Backup & Replication™
RESULTS: • Reduces DR testing process from two weeks to two days • Fast, easy recovery provides peace of mind • Cuts VM backup time by 50 percent and backup space by two-thirds
tests each weekend. We can accomplish frequent testing with Veeam’s SureBackup and Instant VM Recovery, which we found to be unique in the industry. Veeam is in a league of its own. Being able to verify the recoverability of our VMs automatically gives my colleagues and me complete peace of mind.”
The Results Reduces DR testing process from two weeks to two days Before FMI’s IT staff implemented Veeam Backup & Replication, the yearly DR testing process was lengthy and arduous. With Veeam, it’s quick and easy, and more frequent testing is now possible. SureBackup makes it possible for FMI’s IT staff to easily test every backup and ensure recoverability. And, it automates the entire verification process without additional hardware or staff, which is key for FMI’s small IT staff of seven.
Fast, easy recovery provides peace of mind Veeam Backup & Replication is straightforward and easy to use. “Recovery is so incredibly simple with Veeam. My holidays are worry-free now because I am confident that anyone on my staff can recover our VMs. Veeam is practically foolproof.”
Cuts VM backup time by 50 percent and backup space by two-thirds When FMI’s IT staff performed incremental backups of VMs with the same tool used for physical servers, the process took 10 hours. With Veeam Backup & Replication, incremental backups take five hours. Veeam also enables FMI to back up to disk (tape was used before), which speeds recovery. And, because of Veeam’s compression and deduplication functionality, backups require two-thirds less storage space than before.
About Veeam Software Veeam Software, an Elite VMware Technology Alliance Partner, develops innovative software to manage VMware vSphere®. Veeam Backup & Replication with vPower™ provides advanced Virtualization-Powered Data Protection™ and is the #1 VM backup solution. Veeam nworks extends enterprise monitoring to VMware and includes the Veeam nworks Management Pack™ for VMware management in Microsoft System Center and the Veeam nworks Smart Plug-in™ for VMware management in HP Operations Manager. Veeam ONE™ provides a single solution to optimize the performance, configuration and utilization of vSphere environments and includes: Veeam Monitor™ for easy-to-deploy VMware monitoring; Veeam Reporter™ for VMware capacity planning, change tracking and documentation; and Veeam Business View™ for VMware business service management and categorization. Learn more about Veeam Software by visiting www.veeam.com.
To learn more, visit: www.veeam.com © 2011 Veeam Software. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 09212011
