Virtual Instruments SANInsight TAP Patch Panel System

Backup and disaster recovery software

Bronze Award:

FalconStor Software FalconStor VirtualTape Library Version 3.1

FalconStor Software Inc.'s latest revision of its popular virtual tape library (VTL) software builds on a widely implemented disk-based backup product. FalconStor garnered a silver award for its IPStor 4.0 DR application in this category two years ago. This year, the company captures a bronze for the latest incarnation of its popular FalconStor VirtualTape Library.

With ever-growing data stores, shrinking backup windows and the time-consuming process of restoring from tape, many shops are turning to disk for relief. Making a disk subsystem look like a tape library is a popular backup option. With VirtualTape Library, FalconStor integrates with and emulates dozens of tape libraries from leading vendors. VirtualTape Library also emulates nearly all popular drive types, including LTO-1, -2 and -3; DLT and SuperDLT; and 984x and 994x. It supports all major backup apps.

FalconStor's 3.1 version has widened its support by including IBM's 3583 and 3580 drives. Also new is a tape-caching feature that provides more flexibility for moving backed-up data to tape, allowing users to define policies for migrating disk-based backups to tape that maintain bar-code integrity. Policies can also tell VirtualTape Library how to re-allocate disk space when data is moved to tape.

Last summer, FalconStor added the ability to encrypt its VTL tapes and export the encrypted data to physical tapes. Users can also add FalconStor's continuous data protection option to the VTL app. FalconStor's VirtualTape Library has two versions, standard and enterprise, distinguished by their scaling limitations. The bottom line: FalconStor VirtualTape Library is a good VTL product that has gotten better.

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