NAKIVO Gives a Mobile Computer Solutions Supplier 70% Storage Space Savings

DriverTech, a leading supplier of mobile computer solutions for the trucking industry, is using NAKIVO Backup & Replication to back up and replicate VMware VMs, while saving 70% of their backup storage space with global data deduplication and compression.

drivertech.com

Business Challenge

DriverTech develops mobile computer solutions for the commercial trucking, military, and emergency medical service industries in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The DriverTech system provides an intelligent fleet management system with a full range of services and state-of-the-art applications for the transportation industry. The DriverTech system provides access to key information that improves driver quality of life and trucking efficiency metrics.

DriverTech’s IT infrastructure consists of three sites: two primary locations and one disaster recovery location. Roughly 50 VMware VMs run Microsoft SQL servers, file servers, and various other services. DriverTech needs to protect their VMs with full and forever-incremental backup, and at same time, replicate those VMs to their disaster recovery location for an extra layer of protection. For most companies, any kind of an unfortunate event, human error, or a physical disaster can lead to data loss and result in downtime. That is why DriverTech needs a reliable VM backup solution they can rely on to provide them with quick VM recovery, should disaster strike.

“For VM backup, we used a different software product in the past. For VM replication, we used SAN replication. We were basically doing SAN volume replication, but we really wanted to switch to software based VM replication. When we decided to move on to another technology, we wanted to find a product that would offer us both VM backup and VM replication with greater flexibility. Furthermore, the VM backup software had to be reliable, fast, and user-friendly,” says Jay Newhouse, IT Director at DriverTech.

Solution

DriverTech tested nearly a dozen different backup solutions available on the market, and ultimately chose NAKIVO Backup & Replication to protect their virtual environment because they found it to be the easiest product in terms of implementation and configuration. At their primary location, DriverTech chose to deploy NAKIVO Backup & Replication as a pre-configured virtual appliance because such deployment allows for better scalability and flexibility, in terms of supporting simultaneous tasks. During the first six months, NAKIVO Backup & Replication was primarily used for backing up VMs at DriverTech’s primary site. After that, because the setup process was effortless, DriverTech started to replicate VMs between their three locations.

With NAKIVO Backup & Replication, DriverTech developed their own special schedule for VM backups. In addition, with global data deduplication and compression, DriverTech noticed considerable storage space savings. “Currently, we back up the primary VMs at our main location twice per day and replicate them as well. At one of the secondary locations, we back up VMs as often as every 30 minutes. On average, NAKIVO Backup & Replication takes about two hours to finish all the backup jobs. As for the storage space savings, we have saved quite a bit of storage by making the switch – probably at least 70%. As a result, we are doing VM backups more frequently and keeping them longer,” says Jay.

NAKIVO Backup & Replication also provides DriverTech with the ability to replicate individual VMs and all VMs within VMware containers. “By creating VM replicas and storing them offsite, we ensure near-instant data recoverability in case of a disaster. If something major happens, we can immediately fail over from the source VM to the VM replica. With the SAN replication, we were doing volume replication, and now we can finally refine that to VM replication,” says Jay.

Results

NAKIVO Backup & Replication deployed as a pre-configured virtual appliance provides DriverTech with VM backup and VM replication within one product. DriverTech can back up their main VMs on a daily basis, with backup jobs taking two hours to complete. On top of that, DriverTech uses 70% less storage space with the product’s global data deduplication and compression, and thus can perform VM backups more frequently. Lastly, DriverTech can replicate VMs to their secondary locations to ensure near-instant recoverability in case of a disaster. “NAKIVO Backup & Replication is one of the easiest backup products in terms of usability on the market. Now, I have both VM backup and VM replication in one product, eliminating the need to manage two separate systems. Overall, with NAKIVO Backup & Replication, we have achieved better flexibility and scalability,” says Jay.

About DriverTech

Founded in 1995, DriverTech is a leading supplier of mobile computer solutions for the commercial trucking industry. DriverTech designs and manufactures its products at its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. DriverTech’s advanced DT4000™, DTScan™ and FLEETWATCHER™ products have been deployed by thousands of trucking companies and are in use today across the United States, Canada and Mexico. DriverTech’s unique tri-mode wireless communications system utilizes a “least-cost” approach to connectivity, allowing their customers to reduce their monthly connection fees while remaining in constant contact with their drivers and trucks in the field. For more information, please visit www.drivertech.com.