bruAPP™ Backup Appliance

A Complete Backup and Restore Appliance for Platform-Independent and Ultra-Reliable Data Protection

Data backup and restore, while simple in concept, is a critical function that is less-than-simple to implement properly.  The issues of configuration, compatibility, ease-of-installation, and expected performance present significant challenges.  bruAPP from TOLIS Group is a single-purpose, self-contained and self-sufficient data backup server system that eliminates the "hard work" needed to implement a viable backup system.  Operationally insulated from network server, bruAPP provides a long-term stable backup environment that incurs zero overhead on network production servers and software challenges at that level have no impact on the operation of bruAPP.

The Challenge: Designing and implementing heterogeneous backup solutions has become an increasingly more difficult task for system administrators. There are far too many technology choices, capabilities, and cost considerations - and those are just the beginning:

  • Will the backup system perform as expected after the pieces have been identified and assembled?
  • Will the backup system continue to work properly after installing critical product updates as time passes?
  • Is the expertise and time available to troubleshoot the esoteric interoperability failures that invariably will surface?

The Solution: The bruAPP is a tightly integrated solution comprised of hardware (disk staging, tape), software (BRU Server), and a focused backup-oriented operating system. The combination creates an instant, complete, client/server backup system:

  • bruAPP Add-On Hardware/Software Bundles
  • Heterogeneous support of all client/server networks - regardless of system/server platform type
  • Incurs zero impact on any Server on the network
  • Supports D2D, D2T, and D2D2T backup strategies in an easy to configure and manage appliance
  • "10 minutes" from installation to 1st backup - slightly longer if implementing a larger tape library
  • Can recover from data restore errors when all other backup tools fail
  • Supports multiple, simultaneous client system backup - limited only by the available network bandwidth
    • ATTO Technology Logo
    All TOLIS Group bruAPP Backup Appliance's use ATTO Technology HBA's
  • Ability to add disk stage capacity to make the bruAPP Backup Appliance scalable to future needs
  • The number of supported client systems is virtually limitless for increased scalability
  • Exceptionally broad Unix, Mac OS X and Windows client system support
  • Lowest cost per seat of any true client/server-based backup solution

Anatomy of bruAPP

Any solution is only as good as its weakest link. The bruAPP is a complete backup solution in an appliance that uses tested and proven hardware and software components.

HEART - The bruAPP/OS is a TOLIS Group developed, custom backup-oriented, operating system derived from components of FreeBSD, Linux, and TOLIS Group code. This highly tuned bruAPP/OS forms the heart of the bruAPP appliance. "Backup oriented" is key because the bruAPP performs a single function, and that is the backup and recovery of data. Unencumbered by traditional operating system overhead and complexity, bruAPP/OS delivers rock solid operating system stability to assure uninterrupted and seamless backup system operation today and into the future. bruAPP/OS renders the bruAPP Backup Appliance's operation totally impervious to software upgrades at the server system level.

LTO LogoBODY - Standard, device-matched, tested, and proven hardware components from quality manufacturers comprise the "body" to provide years of reliable and predictable backup performance. The bruAPP Backup Appliance is designed to provide trouble free backup and recovery operations for the long term.

The bruAPP Backup Appliance's hardware architecture is not fixed; rather it is structured to provide longevity via easy expandability as the needs of an organization grow. The capacity of the SATA-based disk stage can be easily incremented as higher capacity hard drives become available. Using 1 TB or 2 TB drives available today - up to 32 TB of disk stage backup capacity can be configured in a 3U chassis. The net 28 TB of disk stage for the 3U model is based on a RAID 5 + hot spare (net 26 TB for RAID-6) architecture, and also contains a redundant power supply.

'Powered by HP' LogoThe bruAPP Backup Appliance is available in 1U and 3U rackmount configurations or tower units if required.  The bruAPP Backup Appliance may also be bundled with your choice of external HP tape autoloaders and libraries. All models support externally-connected tape drives and libraries without the need for special drivers, even if the tape device was not purchased with the bruAPP Backup Appliance.

SOUL - BRU Server is the software that comprises the "soul" of the bruAPP Backup Appliance. BRU technology has protected the data on Unix systems for over 23 years, and BRU Server represents the culmination of the knowledge and expertise gained since 1985 to reliably backup and restore Unix-core and Windows systems

Backing up data is all about the ability to recover it when needed. As with all BRU-based solutions, any errors experienced by the bruAPP Backup Appliance during a restore are identified, reported, and circumvented where possible, allowing the restore to continue beyond the point of the error; conditions under which other tools simply abort the recovery.

Management of the bruAPP Backup Appliance is provided via an intuitive graphical interface, character-based interface, or from the command line. The bruAPP Backup Appliance utilizes the BRU Server Graphical User Interface (BRU Server Console) and may be installed on any number of supported systems that have network connectivty .

bruAPP Backup Appliance 3U ChassisView the highlights of BRU Server

Client Licensing System

There is no artificial distinction between the largest of Servers, the potential myriads of installed desk side systems, or laptops occasionally connected to the network. All systems are treated equally, and the cost-per-seat to support those systems is the same. Incremental client system license packs are available that deliver pricing as low as $24.00 per seat.

Depending on the bruAPP model, support of either 10, 25, or 150 client systems is included and expansion client licenses are available in individually or in 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 packs.

Warranty

The standard bruAPP hardware warranty is a three (3) year depot.  Additionally, all bruAPP Backup Appliances ship with 1-year of top-tier software support for the BRU Server software and bruAPP/OS.