EMC is chipping away at the divisions between Oracle database administrators (DBAs) and backup teams by adding Recovery Manager (RMAN) integration to Data Domain Boost. In addition to offering backup and deduplication via Oracle’s native management platform, the software will help reduce the strain on networks and lower storage requirements according to EMC.
Data Domain Boost works by handing off some deduplication duties via “a plug-in that gets installed on the Oracle database server,” says Rob Emsley, senior director of product marketing for EMC’s Backup Recovery Systems unit. It also provides hooks that allow RMAN to handle Data Domain replication, lowering management overhead.
Since the software is “integrated right at the place of creation,” explains Emsley, backups are optimized from the get-go, resulting in across-the-board efficiencies that span both the network and target storage systems.
EMC estimates that Data Domain Boost can improve Oracle backup performance by up to 50 percent while lowering LAN bandwidth requirements by up to 99 percent. It also helps lower storage costs by enabling 10 to 30x reductions in backup storage.
Oracle servers get a breather, too. CPU load is reduced by 20 to 40 percent during backup activities says EMC. Backups race across the network with throughput rates of up to 26.3 TB per hour.
Siloed No More
Besides maximizing storage with data deduplication, Data Domain Boost enables organizations to streamline their overall storage environments. Since it integrates with both RMAN and third party backup apps, EMC argues that it allows storage administrators to consolidate backups rather than provisioning primary storage for the express purpose of backing up Oracle.
It should prove an attractive proposition for Oracle and EMC environments, according Jason Buffington, a senior analyst for the Enterprise Strategy Group. “DD Boost integration with Oracle RMAN extends EMC’s vision of delivering tightly integrated backup and recovery products that simplify processes and give administrators the flexibility to architect backup infrastructures and processes that suit their organization’s needs,” he said.
By extension, Data Domain Boost also opens new doors for Oracle DBAs — and knocks down others, says Emsley.
Whereas Oracle DBAs may have to put in a request to a backup team to recover data for test or recovery purposes, the new software places control in their hands. With Data Domain Boost, they are empowered by “a utility that an Oracle database administrator can use to create and recover their own copy,” says Emsley. Likewise, storage administrators can stay in the loop and work more closely with DBAs to get the most out of their infrastructures and find common ground among competing priorities, he explains.
