Case Study ::
USF Federal Credit Union Establishes Airtight DR with EVault and Simpler-Webb
Executive Summary
USF Federal Credit Union
Banking/Finance
Tampa, Florida
Business Challenge
Risky, unencrypted tape backup process
Overly long recovery time objective (RTO) for disasters
Insufficient plans for out-of-region disaster recovery
Solution
Encrypted, automated disk backups with EVault InfoStage. Fast restores now possible from both local vault in Tampa and remote vault at Simpler-Webb facility (an EVault Platinum partner) in Austin, Texas.
Results
Security, compliance, fast restores, and peace of mind.
Through a successful implementation of a solution from EVault by Austin-based, Simpler-Webb, Inc., USF Federal Credit Union is now comforted with increased security and redundancy.
Business Challenge
USF FCU regularly encountered the typical shortcomings of tape-based backup: tapes wearing out and becoming less reliable, the growing complexity and backup times as the amount of data and the number of servers increased, and the hassle of taking tapes off-site
and bringing back the right ones to do a restore.
Although Simpler-Webb and the credit union began their search by exploring in-line solutions that could encrypt backup data as it went to tape, it wasn’t long before their exploration expanded to encompass solutions that could enable USF FCU to improve its
DR process. “They wanted to make their backup process more efficient without taking tapes off-site. They also wanted to be able to recover and have the backup data available not only at their local Tampa facility but also at their co-location site,” said Cooper.
That’s when Simpler-Webb raised the option of automated, disk-based backup with EVault InfoStage™. Chris Cooper described how an EVault InfoStage DualVault solution would let USF FCU host a primary backup vault locally in Tampa while Simpler-Webb hosted
a secondary off-site vault for USF FCU at its Austin, Texas headquarters. Billy and his team quickly warmed to the idea. “The EVault solution was perfect,” said Billy, noting it offered both the redundancy and multipoint accessibility USF FCU wanted.
Solution
Working closely with USF FCU’s co-location facility, Simpler-Webb was able to arrange a rapid connection to the facility that would be made available if USF FCU declared an emergency. This provided more assured restore capabilities in case of a disaster. Backed
up data would stream “over the wire” to the co-location facility site from either the credit union’s Tampa facility or Simpler-Webb’s Austin site. Simpler-Webb could also stream backup data to USF FCU’s Tampa site.
Recalls Cooper, “In this situation, EVault offered a lot of benefits that competitors in the space couldn’t match.” He especially liked how easy the system was to manage and its ability to backup and restore multiple “retentions” in a compact data store.
Citing EVault’s Delta Pro™ technology, which sends only block-level changes over the wire, Cooper lauded the fact that the changes-only approach made backups faster while maintaining a fully backed-up data set at all times.
USF FCU also liked EVault’s end-to-end encryption process: Data is encrypted as it is being backed up, and remains that way during transmission and in storage. Said Billy, “The encryption process has been pretty seamless. You couldn’t really tell it’s being
encrypted, but it is.”
As part of its service, Simpler-Webb now oversees the EVault InfoStage backup process for USF FCU, manages the two vaults, helps perform restores where needed, and performs two annual DR tests.
Results
Since implementing EVault InfoStage, things have gotten a lot easier — and a lot more comfortable — for USF FCU. “Our nightly backup routine’s a lot easier. We don’t have to worry about switching tape out anymore,” said Billy, also noting that backup speeds
are faster, especially with the help of EVault Delta Pro. Restores are also a simpler proposition. “Since we no longer have to search for a particular tape, the restore process has been a lot quicker as well.”
Computer Support Specialist Jeff Wiles doesn’t miss tape, either. “You don’t have to figure out which tape has the data on it that you want. With the EVault servers, you have everything right there on a list. You just go find the date and data you want and
start the restore from there,” he said.
The credit union also feels better about its regulatory compliance. “From an auditing standpoint and a federal requirements standpoint, it definitely helps solidify our position in disaster recovery. EVault has given us the ability to encrypt backups and
store them in a location that’s far enough [away] in the event of a disaster,” said Billy. Encrypting backups from the credit union’s IBM AIX UNIX system used to be a challenge, but no longer. “That’s been a great addition with our EVault system.”
“We knew we needed something better than tape, especially with the push for encryption. EVault came along and it was a good solution for us,” said Billy. “Our experience with EVault has been very positive.” Billy reiterates the sentiment. “It looked promising
when we first saw it and it’s done everything it claimed it would do.”
