CUSTOMER PROFILE
COMPANY: Bank of Utah
INDUSTRY: Financial / Banking
ISSUES
- Tape Volume Rotations and Expiring Volumes
- Need for immediate encryption and offsite backups
- Ability to restore without a physical tape/cartridge
IBM i SYSTEM: IBM i V7R3
KEY SOLUTION
LaserVault ViTL Virtual Tape Library Emulation Solution
ViTL BENEFITS
- Daily operations time saving and logistical benefits
- Completely resolved tape-related issues
- Faster backups than LTO tape
- Backups encrypted and offsite immediately
- Remote management of backups – don’t have to be onsite with server
- Hands-free backups when used with BRMS
- Meets regulatory requirements
- Excellent customer support
CHALLENGES
As a customer-facing financial institution, Bank of Utah has not only logistical needs for a dependable backup solution, but regulatory requirements as well. According to Chris McIntyre, the bank’s AVP for Data Center and IT Operations, the ViTL virtual tape solution has met all their concerns.
Before ViTL, they had to do tape rotations, daily tape formatting, and at the end of each day export tapes to a remote site, an impossible task without onsite operators. The Bank wanted lights out operations, and to have their backup data encrypted and offsite immediately after the backups are completed. They also wanted the ability to restore at their remote site if/when needed without having to have a physical tape cartridge.
SOLUTION
After looking at several solutions, The Bank of Utah selected the ViTL virtual tape solution from LaserVault. ViTL is a replacement for using physical tape for backup and recovery of IBM Power Systems.
The decision for ViTL was made once Chris worked with LaserVault support.
“It was clear that they understood what we needed and they worked with the bank to implement and resolve our initial problems. We backup the entire system, except for *savsys, each day. About 1.2 TB daily.”
“We have absolutely seen an improvement in our backup windows. I see about 3.5 Gb speeds day after day. With ViTL, The backups run at almost the advertised speed of the fiber HBA cards. Much faster than physical LTO tape. I just ordered new fiber cards so I can cut my backup time even further.”
“Actually ViTL continues to save us time each day in our operations. Plus, we can certify to examiners that the backup data is offsite via a scheduled process.”
SUMMARY
When asked on a scale of one to 10 how likely he is to recommend ViTL to others, Chris replied:
“Absolutely an 11! No, maybe a 12! ViTL works very well! It is reliable day after day. It has completely resolved the issues of tape volume rotations and expiring volumes according to our BRMS rules.”
“ViTL can be managed with BRMS and a few scheduling changes to make it a totally hands-off process. It saves me time each day to work on other tasks.”
“I was nervous at the beginning of the project, but so glad we did it. It is truly something I don’t have to worry about any longer. I have consistent backups, replicated, and available when needed for a point in time restore.”
He notes that he has always been able to get same day or following business day needed support from LaserVault support staff. They implemented ViTL about a year before COVID and have never looked back.
