CUSTOMER PROFILE
COMPANY: MEC – Mayville Engineering Company
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing
ISSUES
- Large daily backups
- Tape swapping logistics
- Need for deduplication
- Want to have a combined backup solution that integrates with Cohesity and BRMS
IBM i SYSTEM: IBM i V7R4, Production, HA Box and Test LPAR
KEY SOLUTION
LaserVault ViTL Virtual Tape Library Emulation Solution
ViTL BENEFITS
- Logistical benefits of not having to do physical tape maneuvering
- Remote backup management
- Good integration with Cohesity, BRMS, and tape for total backup system
CHALLENGES
Like many IBM i shops, manual management of physical tapes was the biggest issue when it came to backups for Mayville Engineering (MEC). They were using LTO7 tapes in a tape media library.
Swapping tapes and transporting tapes to an off-site location used up valuable time, so they wanted the ability to remotely manage their backups, especially on weekends and holidays. Also the solution they chose would need to integrate with BRMS and Cohesity.
SOLUTION
Leveraging their existing hardware, MEC chose the software-only version of LaserVault ViTL, a virtual tape solution designed for use with IBM Power Systems.
According to Stephen Fordenbacher, MEC’s Business Applications Development Supervisor, LaserVault ViTL has eliminated the need for physically transporting daily tapes,
“It is working well,” says Stephen. “We use BRMS to backup to tape and then use the Tape Duplication feature in BRMS to create a duplicate volume on LaserVault. LaserVault is actually saving to a share from our Cohesity deduplication system.” He adds, “It is very helpful not to have to swap tapes immediately.”
“Sometimes I can’t get to the office to swap tapes to our fireproof safe in another nearby building. We also never used to swap tapes over weekends or holidays, so it’s nice to know we always have a LaserVault copy as well as tape.”
SUMMARY
Stephen rates LaserVault a solid ten (10) as far as recommending ViTL to other users.
“I used LaserVault at a previous job, so was comfortable with it,” says Stephen.” I think LaserVault would be good for anyone. I am very conservative, so I like tape and LaserVault. Since I have the horsepower and time available, I just do it that way.”
ViTL has proved invaluable for their daily as well as quarterly backups. Daily backups include: 1.44TB on their Production box, plus 80GB to their HA Box, and 1TB to their Test LPAR.
Stephen also notes that the LaserVault team has always been helpful, with no real problems with the system.
