EMC introduces HomeBase solution for bare metal recovery

EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, recently strengthened its position in next-generation backup, recovery and archive solutions through the acquisition of UK-based software and services company Indigo Stone.

As a result of this acquisition, EMC has introduced the EMC HomeBaseT product, which delivers critical bare metal recovery (BMR) functionality.

BMR is the restoration of server state and operating system configuration, which takes place prior to the recovery of application and user data. The new EMC HomeBaseT software simplifies server protection by automatically capturing and storing point-in-time profiles of the server configuration required for bare metal recovery.

Unlike some traditional BMR products, the point-in-time profiles are small files (usually less than 5Mb) that can be created as often as required, and can easily be transported via standard LAN or WAN links or over Internet connections.

At the time of recovery, the HomeBase software applies a source server's profile to the new target server hardware, even if the new hardware is entirely dissimilar to the source system. As Robert Shaw, founder of Indigo Stone, and now EMC HomeBase Business Unit MD, explains: "The HomeBase methodology is completely different to traditional BMR methodologies and processes, which means where other solutions have claimed the ability to restore to dissimilar hardware, but, in reality, have battled to do this consistently and reliably, the HomeBase solution is fast, simple and reliable every time".

Gareth Eagar, previously the regional manager for Indigo Stone in South Africa, explains how the HomeBase solution enables a company to have confidence in its disaster recovery plan.

"The traditional system recovery approach has been to either use imaging solutions that create large image files and carry the risk of not working on recovery to dissimilar hardware, or the manual approach of reinstalling the operating system, configuring the operating system, installing and configuring applications and then restoring data.

"While the manual approach works on dissimilar hardware, it often proves unreliable and time-consuming, since it is based on the requirement of having up-to-date system configuration documentation immediately available at the recovery site; high-level skills; and complex manual processes. The HomeBase solution takes a similar approach to the manual process in it's methodology, however it completely automates the process from ensuring that profiles required for recovery are always available at the recovery site, through OS installation and configuration, and then to application configuration recovery."

In addition to providing BMR functionality, the HomeBase solution also provides system configuration reporting and change monitoring. This is based on the requirement for a comprehensive disaster recovery solution, to provide more than just recovery functionality, but also a means to ensure the DR site is adequately resourced through change monitoring, and reporting on the original system configuration which is required to accurately select an appropriate recovery system.

Functionality from the EMC HomeBase solution is currently being integrated into the EMC Networker product line, although the solution is immediately available from EMC as a complementary offering, compatible with EMC NetWorker and all other major storage manager products, including Symantec NetBackup and BackupExec, and Tivoli TSM.

Indigo Stone has operated a branch office in South Africa for the past seven years, and the local staff members are now part of EMC South Africa, providing local support for the HomeBase solution.

The EMC HomeBase solution is a true enterprise-ready product, supporting both Windows and the major variants of UNIX/Linux and is complementary to other EMC solutions such as Avamar and VM-Ware.