Commvault Backup Appliances FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) The Commvault A-Series family of integrated purpose-built backup appliances (PBBAs) combine industry leading enterprise data protection software and hardware in best-ofbreed solutions that close the scalability, flexibility, and manageability gaps in competitive offerings. This FAQ addresses key questions around the appliance implementations. Commvault A210 Commvault A410 Commvault A600 NetApp E-Series 2712 NetApp E-Series DE1600 Appliance Overview...... 2 Proof of Concept (POC).... 3 Support............. 3 Use Cases............ 3 Availability........... 4 Software Licensing...... 4 Scalability........... 5
Appliance Overview How many appliances does Commvault offer? What is included in each appliance? What is the difference between an integrated appliance and a target-based appliance? What are the advantages of an integrated appliance from Commvault? How can two vendors make an integrated appliance? What are the specs of the appliances? Commvault offers three backup appliances: Commvault A210 Commvault A410 Commvault A600 with NetApp The Commvault A210 and Commvault A410 consist of: 2U server with internal storage (i.e., no external storage) Fixed capacity (A210 = 12TB, A410 = 24TB) The Commvault A600 with NetApp consists of: 2U server (A600) NetApp E-Series 2712 Storage System Two base capacities: 18TB and 36TB Expandable up to 288TB per appliance by adding NetApp E-Series DE1600 disk expansion shelves. Integrated appliance: Includes tightly coupled backup software, server and storage hardware, and support in a single solution. Provides both source-side AND target-based deduplication. Target-based appliance: Requires third party backup software Provides deduplication at the target device only It delivers differentiated value around: Scalability Plug and play scalability Parallel Deduplication for improved software resiliency and scale Flexibility Single or multiple appliances Optional add-on capabilities Manageability Centralized management and software deployment The appliance delivers a truly integrated experience: Ease of purchase sold as a single package Ease of deployment auto provisioning that enables users to go from power up to backup in less than an hour Ease of support Commvault serves as the single point of contact for all software and hardware support issues Please refer to the Data Sheet and the Tech Specs for information on the tech specs. Commvault Backup Appliances Data sheet http://commvau.lt/1neaftl Commvault Backup Appliances Tech Specs http://commvau.lt/20gppvu 2
Proof of Concept (POC) Is there a proof of concept (POC) process for the appliances? YES. Please contact your Commvault sales person for information about the POC process, including information on how to request a POC unit. Support Who will provide me with support? What type of support is included? Commvault serves as the single point of contact for all software and hardware support issues. For the Commvault A600 with NetApp, we work with NetApp for storage-specific support issues. The appliances require the purchase of 1-year Premium maintenance with the software licensing. 3-years of 4-hour/next business day (NBD) premium warranty for server and storage hardware. Additional years of software maintenance enable you to co-term software and hardware support. Additional information on support is available in the Tech Specs document. Is the Software licensing transferable to another device/ server? Integrated backend terabyte (BET) licensing: NO. The licensing, including the OS, is tied to the hardware. Hardware-only appliance for use with front-end terabyte (FET) licensing: YES, because the licensing is purchased separately from the hardware. Use Cases Are the appliances complementary to existing Commvault software deployments? What type of customer deployments do the appliances best fit? YES, the hardware-only version of the appliance can be sold into existing Commvault software environments. See the software licensing section for more details. The appliances are flexible and can run in two modes: CommServe (CS)/Media Agent (MA) MA only For smaller environments or for the first appliance in a multi-appliance configuration, you can run in CS/MA mode, and then add additional appliances as MAs only under the same CommCell. This enables the appliances to be used in the following scenarios: Standalone integrated data protection appliance for local backup and recovery Cross-site replication for a secondary copy in a disaster recovery (DR) site As a cloud gateway to write data to the cloud Parallel Deduplication mode, combining up to four appliances for increased resiliency and scale Extended mode with two deduplication databases (DDBs) with support for up to 288TB in a single appliance using the Commvault A600 with NetApp 3
Availability Where are the appliances available? How can I order an appliance? How much does an appliance cost? The Commvault backup appliances are only available in the U.S. and Canada. You can order from Commvault s resellers in the U.S. and Canada. Contact your reseller for pricing details. Software Licensing What are backend terabytes (BET)? How do they differ from front-end terabytes (FET)? Can I purchase an appliance without BET licensing? Does the hardware-only option include the installation and configuration wizard? Why is BET licensing offered on the appliances? Can I mix BET and FET? Can I convert BET to FET? BET: The aggregate amount of backup data on disk storage AFTER deduplication Logical data sizes vary based on type of data, deduplication rates, retention periods, etc. The appliance matches BETs to the usable capacity of the disk storage FET: The total aggregate amount of data BEFORE deduplication Measured as the current largest aggregate full (or synthetic full) backup performed This is how Commvault measures front-end capacity-based licensing and it does NOT include backup copies YES: The appliances are available as hardware-only options without the BET licensing. This is the only option for existing Commvault customers that have FET capacity and simply need another media agent (MA) and storage for the data. YES. BET licensing aligns to usable storage capacity, making the appliance easier to purchase. When you purchase additional capacity, it automatically includes the appropriate licensing. NO: That means you can t add FET-based capacity options (e.g., Data Protection Advanced (DPA)) to BET. But, data protection is included with BET. NO: BET cannot be converted to FET. 4
What is included in the different licensing options? Please refer to the Tech Specs for additional details. Feature BET FET (DPA)1 Protection for files and NAS Standard Standard Protection for virtual machines (VMs) capacity-based Standard Standard Source-side deduplication and replication Standard Standard Simpana OnePass for backup and file archiving Standard Add-on App and database agent support for MS (Exchange, SQL, Active Directory and SharePoint), Linux, Oracle, and SAP Standard Standard Encryption Standard Standard Basic Endpoint backup (includes DLO clients, admin recovery, end user access/recovery) Standard Standard Cloud integration Standard Standard Tape support Add-on Standard Snapshot integration Add-on Standard Search and ediscovery Add-on2 Add-on Operational Analytics/Metrics Add-on2 Add-on Solution Sets: Email archiving; endpoint data protection (DLP, search, secure file sharing), and virtualization (per VM or per socket) Add-on2 Add-on 1 Representative feature set. Other data protection bundles (e.g., DPF) are available. Most customers combine a data protection bundle with one of the Solution Sets. 2 Supported feature upon request, but not recommended with BET licensing option. Scalability What is the maximum storage capacity of a single Commvault A600 with NetApp? What is extended mode? What is the maximum deduplication storage pool for the Commvault A600 with NetApp? In standard mode: 144TB In extended mode: 288TB Extended mode applies to the Commvault A600 with NetApp: Allows you to run two deduplication databases (DDBs) per appliance Supports up to 288TB of usable capacity Requires the Deduplication Accelerator option, which adds 4 additional SSDs to the appliance The appliance supports Parallel Deduplication. This means you can: Combine up to four deduplication pools from separate appliances to improve resiliency and scale Expand the capacity of the combined deduplication store to reach 1152TB using four appliances in extended mode 5
How many nodes can be clustered together using Parallel Deduplication? How many disk shelves can be added to the Commvault A600 with NetApp? Can you support multiple appliances in the same CommCell? Is the Commvault A600 with NetApp limited to 288TB of total data? Will I need Professional Services (PS) to deploy the appliance? If so, who provides them? Up to 4 TOTAL: 8 Each appliance includes a NetApp E-Series 2712 storage system with 1 disk shelf PLUS, you can add up to 7 more DE1600 disk expansion shelves YES One appliance supports up to 288TB usable capacity. But, you can scale to support PBs of data by combing multiple appliances in the same environment. NO: The appliance is simple to deploy. Arrow and Commvault offer PS to help set up the environment, if needed. To learn more, please visit commvault.com/appliance or contact your sales representative. 2015 Commvault Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Commvault, Commvault and logo, the C hexagon logo, Commvault Systems, Solving Forward, SIM, Singular Information Management, Simpana, Simpana OnePass, Commvault Galaxy, Unified Data Management, QiNetix, Quick Recovery, QR, CommNet, GridStor, Vault Tracker, InnerVault, QuickSnap, QSnap, Recovery Director, CommServe, CommCell, IntelliSnap, ROMS, Commvault Edge, and CommValue, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Commvault Systems, Inc. All other third party brands, products, service names, trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of and used to identify the products or services of their respective owners. All specifications are subject to change without notice. PROTECT. ACCESS. COMPLY. SHARE. COMMVAULT.COM 888.746.3849 GET-INFO@COMMVAULT.COM 2015 COMMVAULT SYSTEMS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.