Arkeia Network Backup - Version 9.0

Arkeia Network Backup version 9.0 delivers features to shorten backup-windows, and to reduce storage and networking costs for protecting your data. This major release employs patented deduplication technologies acquired from Kadena Systems in 2009. The release was made generally available (GA) on April 3, 2011.

Progressive Deduplication

Progressive deduplication is an improvement over first-generation deduplication technologies like fixed-block or variable-block deduplication. “Progressive deduplication” is named for the second of the two underlying technologies used. First, a sliding-window is used to scan all possible blocks of a given size in a file, advancing one byte at a time. Second, progressive-matching uses a light-weight algorithm to identify those blocks that are probable matches to known blocks, followed by a heavy-weight algorithm which scrutinizes probable matches with a hashing algorithm to confirm the match.

Arkeia’s progressive-matching is ideal for source-side deployment, but administrators can specify that certain backups be deduplicated at the target (the media server) or not at all. For backups, source-side deduplication is preferable because the deduplication compresses data before it travels over the network, shortening backup windows.

Because the size of the deduplication block is set by the sliding window, and because this window can be adjusted, Arkeia uses different block sizes for files of different types. A text file, a database file, a virtual machine image, and an application file will be deduplicated with blocks of different sizes.

Arkeia’s deduplication is “in-line”, eliminating the overhead of moving the data more than once. In-line deduplication is a natural complement to source-side deduplication because the data are compressed before they leave the source computer to travel over the network.

Two-Phase Backup

Two-phase backups are an optional backup strategy designed for environments with large numbers of small files, where the time to move the files is much less than the time required to update the catalog. The advantage of this approach is that the backup window can be reduced dramatically, being limited by the time to move the files over the network. However, it is not possible to restore files from the catalog until the index update is complete. The files are safe, but temporarily inaccessible.

As shown in the diagram above, a traditional backup ends at time "B". By splitting the backup into two phases, the total length of the backup increases, finishing at time "C". However, the backup window is dramatically shortened, ending at time "A".

AES-256 Encryption

Client-side support of AES-256 encryption improves data privacy both while stored and while in transit over the network. Deduplication is completed before data are encrypted.

Improved Web UI Ergonomics

Many improvements make the v9.0 web user interface the best that Arkeia has delivered. The primary left-navigation menu has been restructured. You'll see many follow-on improvements in subsequent releases to take advantage of these structural changes.

New Platform Support

Arkeia updates support for several operating systems with version 9.0. Support includes Debian 6, Fedora 14, OpenBSD 4.8, RHEL 6, Ubuntu 10.10.

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