StorFirst Altus is the first and only software product to provide a secure second layer of data protection to the content stored on an EMC Centera storage system.

Designed specifically for EMC Centera, StorFirst Altus is a data protection/disaster recovery solution that provides Centera replication to tape drives, tape libraries and Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL), essentially providing mirrored Centera functionality to lower cost devices, while maintaining data authenticity and availability. 

Altus replication is fundamentally different from traditional backup, as there is no distinction between incremental and full.  By incrementally capturing new C-Clips as they are written to Centera, Altus replication builds a single, complete, synchronized copy of all of the Centera content.  Since C-Clips and their associated metadata will never change, all replication is essentially incremental, so any new C-Clip will automatically synchronize to the backup device.

Regardless of the application that creates the Centera C-Clips, Altus replicates the C-Clips, including all Centera created metadata such as Content Address, creation time, and retention period, to tape or VTL.  Tightly integrated with the Centera API’s, StorFirst Altus is the optimal solution for preserving authenticity and retention management of Centera content, even after a complete site disaster.

When data is restored from Altus to an EMC Centera, the C-Clips are not simply written back to Centera, but are restored using a specialized function that provides complete reinstatement and validation of all information contained within each C-Clip, to ensure that authenticity and retention management are preserved.

Whereas conventional backup practices may be used in some instances, existing backup solutions may in fact invalidate the authentication capabilities that differentiate Centera from other disk-based storage systems, particularly when Centera is used for regulatory compliance.

Summary of StorFirst Altus for EMC Centera

• Perform manual replication of content stored on Centera using a “Replicate Now” job, or automated replication by scheduling daily or weekly recurring jobs
• Restore content back to Centera using “Restore All”, a specified date range, or an individual C-Clip ID
• Replicate one Centera to one device, one Centera to multiple devices, multiple Centera to a single device, or multiple Centera to multiple devices
• Intuitive Windows GUI for administration, with auto-configuration of attached tape devices, and setup wizard for replication and restore jobs
• Supports all leading tape drives, tape libraries and Virtual Tape Libraries from manufacturers including Hewlett-Packard, ADIC, Sony, Quantum, Qualstar, and StorageTek
• Supports all leading tape formats including LTO, AIT, DLT, and Sun T9840/T9940
• Does NOT require additional data protection applications such as EMC NetWorker, CA ArcServe, Symantec NetBackup, or IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
• Provides alerts for conditions that require operator intervention, such as free space threshold, requests for off-line media, and SCSI device errors
• Provides job logs with reporting on number of C-Clips checked, C-Clips to process, C-Clips replicated, C-Clips restored, and total MB written to the device or restored to the Centera