bruAPP Frequently Asked Questions
What is bruAPP?
bruAPP is a first-of-its-kind appliance that delivers leadership back
up, and most importantly, reliable restoration of client/server-based
data without dependence on any server on the network. Every component
needed to support D2D, D2T, and D2D2T backup strategies is tightly integrated
within bruAPP.
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I
have heard bruAPP is called a "toaster", why?
Yes, the term aptly distills the function of bruAPP into a single word.
A toaster has one function, and that is to make toast. The bruAPP appliance
has one function, and that is to reliably and accurately back up and restore
data; both doing their job exceptionally well.
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Is
bruAPP a Unix backup tool?
Yes it is. bruAPP is a self-contained solution whose operation is not
dependent on any OS server platform supporting the network. All of the
major Unix platforms are supported - including Linux and Mac OS X.
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Is
bruAPP a Windows backup tool?
Yes it is. Because bruAPP is a totally self-contained solution, Windows
systems, whether they are laptops or the largest Windows Server 2003 system,
are treated simply as client systems by bruAPP and all of their filesystem
attributes are properly backed-up and restored.
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What
is the benefit of using bruAPP to do D2D2T backups?
Backup windows are shrinking, data is growing, and the bottom-line premise
of backing up is the expectation to be able to recover data from a near-line
(disk stage), or off-line repository (tape) when needed. In addition to
the ability to validate the accuracy of BRU backups, only BRU technology
can recover from read and tape errors that can occur during a restore
- even though the backup was accurately written. The BRU technology in
bruAPP will always return more data than any other tool as long as the
media can physically be read.
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Can
I add other applications to bruAPP?
No, bruAPP is designed to perform one function, and that is the
accurate backing up and restoring of data.
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Is
the software in bruAPP different from the BRU Server product?
No, the software is identical.
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Should
I use bruAPP, or just the BRU Server software?
It depends. The same BRU Server software is implemented in both. The primary
purpose of bruAPP is to enable smaller organizations to easily protect
their data by eliminating the configuring, installation, and compatibility
issues that normally arise - especially when system administration resources
and/or time is scarce.
When an
organization has the expertise and supporting hardware infrastructure
(i.e. disk staging/tape) in place, BRU Server software may be all that
is needed. Even in this environment, bruAPP can be appropriate because
its operation is insulated from the effects of patches or software upgrades
applied to the network.
In larger
organizations, bruAPP can be used to back up local or remote departments,
and then serve as an agent system to push its data up to a central repository.
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How
is bruAPP different than other backup appliances?
Self-sufficiency best describes the difference. Other backup appliances
provide only a part of a backup capability. For example, virtual tape
appliances (VTLs) require a physical system and backup software to operate.
The bruAPP appliance is an entire backup server system solution that contains
a backup-focused boot environment, disk stage capacity, tape technology
in some models, the backup software, and licenses to back up client systems
- all in a tightly integrated package.
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What
operating system does bruAPP use?
bruAPP/OS brings up the bruAPP appliance. It is backup focused, and is
more of an operating environment to boot the BRU Server software versus
a full operating system with the associated trappings. bruAPP/OS is comprised
of portions of Linux, FreeBSD, and TOLIS Group code that support the delivery
of leadership data backup and restore services.
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How
is bruAPP installed?
bruAPP can be installed in as little as 10 minutes. Simply plug a temporary
keyboard and monitor into bruAPP (mouse not needed), supply power to the
unit, and attach bruAPP to the network (dual gigabit Ethernet ports are
provided). Five simple screens then guide you through inputting of the
date, time, network settings, your password, and the initiation of a hardware
scan. Following the hardware scan, bruAPP is installed.
Note:
The hardware scan can take up to 5 minutes per tape drive when an externally
attached tape library is implemented.
How
is the agent software loaded onto the client systems?
Following installation of the bruAPP appliance, a Web browser is opened
and the appropriate platform agent is selected and directed toward the
client system.
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How
do I manage bruAPP?
The bruAPP console can be installed on a variety of systems and
can be installed on local or remote multiple systems to best advantage.
Console operation from a Windows system is under development.
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How
fast is bruAPP?
The BRU Server software is highly efficient and can accept data as fast
as the filesystem can deliver it. No performance latency is incurred at
the application level.
Following
the first full backup of client systems, users may not even know the subsequent
incremental backups of their systems is occurring. The bruAPP appliance's
high throughput, coupled with leadership disk staging performance and
the ability to verify a backup for accuracy (on disk or tape) in an out-of-band
process delivers the backup industry's fastest, fully data verified, backup
window.
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Does
bruAPP back up everything?
It can, including Unix permissions and Windows registries, but you might
not want to back up everything all of the time. bruAPP supports many different
backup schedule types such as: full, differential, incremental, grandfather,
father, son, etc. Complete directories can be backed-up or selected portions,
and files can be excluded by type, such as MP3 music files.
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Does
bruAPP back up duplicate files?
Yes it does, and for good reason. Exactly similar files will reside on
systems across the network, and these files are typically critical to
a system's operation. If only one copy of a particular file is kept and
a damaged system must be rebuilt, the necessary file or files must be
sourced from potentially multiple archives. Misplace an archive containing
the only copy of a required file and timely system recovery becomes a challenge.
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Are
bruAPP archives compatible with my other BRU archives?
Yes, regardless of the platform created on (Linux, Sun, HP, IBM, Mac OS
X, etc.).
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What
impact does bruAPP incur on the network server?
Absolutely none. Unlike other backup tools that can bring down a network
server during a backup process, bruAPP is its own backup server and incurs
zero impact on network servers. The only interaction between bruAPP and
any network server occurs when bruAPP is backing up that system.
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How
many client systems can bruAPP support?
The number of client systems that can be backed-up by bruAPP, while retaining
acceptable performance, is limited only by the available network bandwidth.
While each network's characteristics are different, the following guidelines
should be helpful: 10baseT = 25 clients, 100baseT = 250 clients, 1000baseT
(Gigabit Ethernet) = 1000 clients.
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Does
bruAPP automatically "find" client systems on the network?
No. This is a dangerous scenario because the choice of what systems to
back up should be decided by the administrator, and not the backup application
software.
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How
secure is bruAPP?
The bruAPP appliance is exceptionally secure. A Diffy-Hellman handshake
is employed to assure authorized communication between bruAPP and the
authorized client systems. An AES 256-bit algorithm is employed when encryption
is enabled.
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How
do I add additional client system support?
Depending on the bruAPP model, either 10 or 25, or 150 licenses are provided out-of-the-box.
Additional single, and value-pack licenses, are available. The new license
string is inputted directly into bruAPP by re-attaching the keyboard and
monitor. A planned update will support inputting a new license string
via the bruAPP console.
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Does
it cost more to backup servers instead of desktop?
No. TOLIS Group views the type of software a system is running differentiates
it as a server system, not the physical size of the system. The bruAPP
appliance treats all systems on the network simply as nodes or seats.
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Does
bruAPP back up client systems one at a time?
No, because the scenario is not efficient. The low overhead of the BRU
Server software in bruAPP supports the backing-up of multiple, simultaneous
data streams from client systems to achieve the highest throughput possible.
And, even while doing so, client system data is not interleaved with data
from another client system. That too, is a poor approach.
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How
is bruAPP disk staging different from other tools?
bruAPP writes a fully verifiable backup to the disk stage. Other tools
simply write an "image" to the disk stage. When using other
tools, the image written to the disk stage must first be restored before
the target file can be accessed. Using BRU, the target file can be restored
directly from the disk stage to the client system, or re-directed to another
system. And, unlike other tools, when the contents of the bruAPP disk
stage are up-staged to tape, a target file can be accessed and restored
directly from tape as well.
Because
the data written to the bruAPP disk stage is a fully verifiable backup,
it can be validated for 100% accuracy in an out-of-band process that does
not require continued access to the original data on the client system
for comparison. Proofing a backup is important because if the backup isn't
accurate; the restore cannot be accurate.
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How
can the disk stage capacity be incremented?
Increasing the size of the disk stage
is as simple as adding another hard disk drive. TOLIS Group-supplied drive modules
preserve the warranty. As higher capacity drives become available, and
are certified by TOLIS Group, they can replace the existing drives.
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Can
the disk stage be configured as a RAID set?
Yes. The bruAPP disk stage default is RAID 0. Other levels such as RAID
5 can be configured although they reduce the disk stage's available capacity.
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Are
the drives in the disk stage "hot swappable"?
The drives in the disk stage are not currently hot swappable. To swap
out a disk, the bruAPP must be powered down. Upon reboot, bruAPP will
recognize the new disk, and if it is one of larger capacity, bruAPP will
automatically adjust the disk stage total capacity accordingly.
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Can
multiple bruAPP units be connected to the same network?
Yes. When network response time is critical and even the fast bruAPP backups
become invasive, additional bruAPP units can be implemented to minimize
the impact of the backup process. The administrator need only define which
client systems will be backed-up by which bruAPP.
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Can
I do single file restores?
Yes, and efficiently. bruAPP writes an actual backup to the disk stage,
and to tape when the data is upstaged. Because these are actual, fully
verifiable backups (not just images), bruAPP keeps track of where each
file resides (disk stage or on tape) and will recover the target file
directly from where it resides to wherever the administrator directs it
to go.
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Can
I restore to a different system?
Yes, see previous answer.
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How
can I restore a damaged system?
Speed is the primary requirement when recovering a system following a
disastrous failure. The combination of reloading a system's baseline OS
and then fully restoring the system from a BRU archive takes less time
than that needed by the disaster recovery CDs created by other tools to
merely boot the system. This holds true when recovering Windows, Mac OS
X, Linux and other Unix-core systems. Additionally, the comprehensiveness
and accuracy of BRU backups assures the system is completely and accurately
restored to its pre-failure state.
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Can
I attach bruAPP to a SAN via the optional F-C HBA?
No. The optional Fibre Channel HBA is dedicated to support FC attached
tape libraries. The gigabit Ethernet ports are used to connect to the
SAN.
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Is
there additional cost to support externally attached tape libraries?
No. Out-of-the-box bruAPP supports tape technology from a single drive
to the largest multi-drive silo.
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Can
bruAPP be used as a NAS box?
No, each serves a different purpose. A NAS appliance serves as a data
repository and bruAPP is a totally self-contained backup server system.
The disk stage capacity implemented within bruAPP is integral to the reduction
of the overall backup window while providing near immediate access to
backed-up data.
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Can
bruAPP back up a NAS box?
Yes. Mount the NAS box to a client system and bruAPP will back up the
NAS data as a volume.
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Can
I add a FC or SCSI HBA at a later time?
Yes, but it must be TOLIS-supplied and installed. The opening of a bruAPP
case by a user voids the warranty. If there is an expectation that an externally
attached FC or SCSI tape library will ultimately be implemented, it is recommended
that the bruAPP be ordered with the optional FC or SCSI HBA installed. It is
cost-effective and assures the use of the bruAPP will not be interrupted
to integrate FC or SCSI at a later time. The default HBA shipped is SAS.
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Can
other format tape drives be integrated into bruAPP?
Yes. LTO-2 and LTO-4 tape technology has been chosen for standard inclusion
into select bruAPP models. Other tape devices can be integrated as a special order,
as long as half-height drives are available in that particular tape format.
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What
bruAPP hardware/software support options are available?
The standard bruAPP warranty is 3-year, depot, and a 3-year on-site repair option is also available.
After the first year, an annual TOLIS Group technical support agreement is available to cover
the software component of bruAPP that provides unlimited support and free bruAPP software updates
as may become available.
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How
can I test bruAPP?
The bruAPP hardware component is comprised of high quality standard components,
and the software is BRU Server. bruAPP can be tested for suitability to
meet your business needs by downloading the BRU Server demo, a full functionality
30-day trial. At day 31 following installation, the demo will no longer
back up data, but any archives created will always be able to be restored.
This capability is consistent with TOLIS Group's commitment to always return
the most data of any backup tool. Archives created with the demo are fully
compatible with bruAPP. bruAPP is custom built perorder.
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How
can I purchase bruAPP?
The bruAPP solutions are currently available from TOLIS Group directly. For additional bruAPP resellers, please visit our Where to Buy section.
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