WESTBOROUGH, Mass., April 30 -- ExaGrid Systems Inc., the leader in cost-effective and scalable disk-based backup solutions with byte-level data de-duplication, today announced the industry's first 30TB disk-based backup system with data de-duplication and a scalable grid architecture. This product enhancement allows customers to store a 30TB full backup, plus weeks or months of retention, in a single grid system. The expanded 30TB capacity will be available for both ExaGrid's EX series servers with internal storage, as well as the ExaGrid iSCSI Gateway for Dell EqualLogic PS Series storage arrays.

In addition to expanded backup capacity, ExaGrid provides best-in-class backup performance by writing to disk at full disk speed (post-processing) and by adding complete servers in a grid for system expansion, instead of just more disk capacity. This scalable grid-based approach maintains fast backup performance even as data grows. ExaGrid is also uniquely fast for restore performance as it stores the most recent backup in its complete, non-de-duplicated form ready for rapid restoration or tape copies.

The latest version of the ExaGrid disk-based backup system includes the following important enhancements and customer benefits:

• Scalable virtualized grid architecture

• Store a 30TB full backup, plus retention of backup history, in a single grid system (up to six 5TB ExaGrid servers in a virtualized grid system).

• Plug-and-play growth -- new systems virtualize together automatically. No splitting data or losing de-duplication efficiency across separate systems.

• Fully configured ExaGrid installations are managed via a single Web UI, accessed with one login, unlike other solutions that require logging into and managing multiple separate devices.

• Performance scales with data growth since processing power and memory are added along with storage capacity.

• Automatic load balancing across all servers in the grid.

• Multiple 30TB grid systems can be installed for increased capacity.

• Highest performance for shortest backup window and fastest data restoration

• Fastest backup performance due to post-process de-duplication. Write directly to disk without any processing on the fly to slow down backups. (Backup throughput: up to 4TB per hour).

• Fastest restore and tape copy performance with byte-level data de-duplication which keeps the most recent backup in its whole form, unlike other solutions which require re-assembly from small blocks and large hash tables. (Restore throughput: up to 2.6TB per hour).

• Most cost-effective and flexible solution

• Granular sizing options "right size" to specific customer backup data requirements, today and in the future.

• Five EX Series server configurations with internal storage hold full backups of 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB or 5TB, plus retention. Servers can be combined, with up to six servers in a single grid (5TB EX Series servers x 6 = 30TB ExaGrid grid system).

• No need to over buy storage capacity upfront. Systems can be easily combined in a virtualized grid for larger capacities as needed.

• Support for leading backup applications

• CA ARCserve.

• CommVault Galaxy.

• Symantec Backup Exec.

• Symantec NetBackup.

• EMC Networker.

• Microsoft SQL Dump.

• VMware Backup (VMDK).

• Energye and rack space-efficient operation

• Customers can store many times more backup data in the same space for substantial savings in power, cooling and space requirements versus standard disk.

"We hear over and over again that completing ever larger backups in a short backup window is a primary customer concern," said Bill Andrews, president and CEO of ExaGrid Systems Inc. "This latest product enhancement allows customers to achieve the shortest backup window possible with our post-processing data de-duplication, but also to maintain that short backup window as their data grows by leveraging our scalable grid architecture. This approach also allows customers the flexibility to buy only what they need, when they need it, as additional servers can be added into the grid at any time. The strength of our scalable grid architecture is that you can grow the system as your data grows and performance does not degrade. Each server brings additional memory, processor and bandwidth resources, along with storage capacity."

The ExaGrid Disk-based Backup System with expanded 30TB grid scalability is expected to ship in three to four months.

About ExaGrid Systems Inc.

Headquartered in Westborough, Mass., ExaGrid Systems is the leader in cost-effective and scalable disk-based backup solutions with byte-level data de-duplication. A highly scalable system that works with existing backup applications, ExaGrid is ideal for companies looking to quickly eliminate the hassles of tape backup while reducing their existing backup windows. ExaGrid's patented approach minimizes the amount of data to be stored by providing standard data compression for the most recent backups along with byte-level data de-duplication technology for all previous backups. Customers can deploy the ExaGrid system at a primary site and at a second site to supplement or eliminate offsite tapes with a live data repository or for disaster recovery. For more information, visit www.exagrid.com.

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Source: ExaGrid Systems Inc.