Adding Linux snapshot support to its Thin Capture™ appliance was not suppsosed to be this hard. But once Kubisys found R1Soft's Linux Hot Copy, not only did it find a great Linux snapshot solution for its Thin Capture™ appliance, but an OEM vendor and partner in R1Soft as well.

1. [Customer Success] Kubisys Gets Two-fer: nux Hot Copy
[Customer Success] Kubisys Gets a Two-fer: Linux Hot Copy Snapshot Software and a Trusted OEM Partner
Software Trusted EM Partner
Adding Linux snapshot support to its Thin Capture™ appliance was not
ts ppliance
supposed to be this hard. But once Kubisys found R1Soft’s Linux Hot Copy,
e oft’
R1Soft’s Copy,
not only did it find a great Linux snapshot solution for its Thin Capture™ appliance
apshot s pliance
but an OEM vendor and partner in R1Soft as well.
ndor
Overview
S d A h
Souder Acharya, Kubisys Founder and Director, never expected that when his customers asked
K bisys F
s d d Director, xpected
t d k d
him to extend the support of Thin Capture to Linux environments that he would have so much
rt onments
trouble finding a suitable snapshot solution. However when he found R1Soft’s Linux Hot Copy, he
e en R1Soft’s Copy,
found much more than a robust snapshot solution and an OEM vendor, he found a trusted and
n vendor, d
reliable partner upon which Kubisys could turn to deliver its customers the best experience possible.
ch ssible.
Company: Kubisys, Inc
sys,
Website: http://www.kubisys.com
Website: http://www.kubisys.com
/www
Kubisys automates and simplifies enterprise data center operations with next-generation technologies
perations hnologies Location: 200 Wanaque Ave,
Wanaque Ave,
that meet the requirements of mission-critical operations. The Kubisys Thin Capture™ appliance
nts pliance Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442
pton
ructs r igate
quickly and easily constructs accurate on-demand server replicas that can be used to mitigate the Phone: 1-973-513-9350
-513-9350
Industry: Data Center Automation
risks inherent to making IT changes. Kubisys Thin Capture enables administrators to perform
re orm
Founded: 2006
comprehensive, i l e enterprise maintenance as well as simulate changes to production
h i in-place t i i t ll i l t h t d tion
on
quiring
environments without requiring additional hardware. Challenges:
No suitable open source snapshot software
for Linux servers
Revolutionary Te
Technology Needs Linux Snapshot Solution
echnology
The Kubisys Thin Capture™ appliance revolutionizes how enterprise organizations may test
re™ w est Linux LVM with native snapshot feature is not
LVM ative
proposed changes to their production applications as it can take snapshots of production environ-
eir an environ- widely deployed
ments so they can see the impact of changes before they are implemented.
he y
Needed solution that deployed
non-disruptively
To
To accomplish this, Kubisys deploys its Thin Capture appliance into enterprise data centers. It then
isys pliance rs.
discovers all Windows or Linux servers by communicating either with the Active Directory domain
r g Needed to take multiple snapshots without
impacting application performance
p g pplication p
ation
controller or the individual server. Once the discovery is complete, information is collected from
al server. d
each physical or virtual server specified by the administrator so its application can by recreated
ator eated LVM
LVM snapshot requires free space in the
quires
and hosted on the Kubisys appliance.
sys volume group
What makes Kubisys revolutionary is that it can have a copy of an application on a physical or
volutionary opy cal
virtual server up and running in 10 – 15 minutes on its Thin Capture appliance with no changes or
nning hin anges Solution:
impact to the production infrastructure. Kubisys Thin Capture™ appliance with
apture™
R1Soft Linux Hot Copy
ot
It accomplishes this by taking a snapshot on the production server which is where the snapshot
aking on apshot
Benefits:
remains. Kubisys then uses application information it previously collected and runs the application
ses viously pplication Thin Capture works across a breadth of Linux
rks
pliance. esses ction
on the Thin Capture appliance. The application then accesses the snapshot on the production operating systems
ms
server over the IP network and only moves the small amounts of data that are needed to test the
ork ounts
Deployment of Linux Hot Copy is
nux
changes to the application on the Kubisys appliance.
on
non-disruptive with no reboot required
th
This approach worked well in Windows environments using Windows VSS. But as Kubisys
ng ys Minimal to no performance impact to
rformance
Founder and Director, Soudir Acharya, looked to add Linux support in response to customer
Director, Soudir ux mer application servers
rs
demands he found he had to provide an alternative snapshot solution to the one that Linux natively
ad shot x
Uses any storage space accessible to Linux
e
offered.
offered.
f operating system
m
R1Soft flexible in its OEM licensing terms
Native Linux LVM Snapshot Feature Falls Short
LVM
M ls
Acharya anticipated that adding Linux support may be as simple as using the native snapshot
t s shot Minimal engineering effort to integrate Linux
ring effort
f
feature found in Linux’s Logical Volume Manager (LVM). Kubisys quickly discovered it was not that easy.
Linux’s ogical Volume (LVM). bisys
L easy. Hot Copy with Thin Capture
hin
While LVM is widely available, a number of obstacles precluded him from selecting LVM as...
LVM able, ded LVM
(cont. next pg)
R1Soft is a division of BBS Technologies, Inc | 2009 © Copyright BBS Technologies, Inc.
sion Technologies, Technologies,

2. [Customer Success] Kubisys, Inc
“R1Soft has been very transparent and open about what it thinks a problem is, how it fixes the
problem and what impact any fix might have to the customer environments that Kubisys supports.
R1Soft exemplifies how every OEM vendor should operate.”
- Soudir Acharya – Kubisys Founder and Director
Thin Capture’s default Linux snapshot solution. These problems It was how fixes to the Linux Hot Copy software might potentially
included: come back to impact his customers that were of particular concern to
him. Since Kubisys was the one directly interfacing with customers, it
Many Linux customers have not deployed LVM would the one negatively impacted should there be some future
All disks on the Linux system may not be managed by LVM problem with R1Soft Linux Hot Copy software.
LVM does not perform well when multiple snapshots are taken
Different versions of LVM snapshots support different functions
So while he began to integrate the R1Soft Linux Hot Copy with the
LVM is operationally difficult to implement if it is not already deployed
Kubisys Thin Capture appliance, he did so cautiously. The integration
from an engineering perspective went smoothly and was completed
These LVM snapshot feature deficiencies put him on the hunt for a
better Linux solution that met Kubisys’ specific needs. But as he in just a few days. However they did encounter some issues.
searched for the right Linux snapshot software, he uncovered that
open source Linux snapshot lacked the breadth of functionality that It was as R1Soft addressed the issues that it became evident to him
Kubisys needed. Further most solutions from storage providers were that he had nothing to fear from a support perspective. In dealing with
designed to only work with their proprietary storage hardware or the R1Soft engineers, he found that they responded quickly and
software. partnered with him to get at the heart of whatever issues he was
encountering with its software.
Kubisys Finds R1Soft’s Linux Hot Copy
It was only when he ran across R1Soft Linux Hot Copy that he Acharya says, “R1Soft has been very transparent and open about
became convinced that he had found the right snapshot solution that what it thinks a problem is, how it fixes the problem and what impact
Kubisys needed to extend support to Linux environments. Linux Hot the fix might have to the customer environments that Kubisys
Copy has no LVM prerequisite, is not tied to the use of some other supports. R1Soft exemplifies how every OEM vendor should operate.”
proprietary hardware or software and is formally supported by R1Soft.
So he started testing Linux Hot Copy with the Thin Capture appliance
R1Soft is More than Great Software and an
and uncovered the following benefits that Linux Hot Copy had over OEM, It is a Partner
competing Linux snapshot solutions: R1Soft understands that in order it to succeed, organizations that use
its technology also have to succeed. This knowledge comes after
No special setup is required years of delivering to its own customers its Continuous Data Protection
It works across a breadth of Linux operating systems (CDP) for Windows, Linux and virtualization platforms. This means
It can be modified to work with custom implementations of Linux that R1Soft is no stranger to the importance of building and maintaining
It installs non-disruptively on physical and virtual servers with no a positive customer relationship.
reboot required
LVM is not needed to take snapshots R1Soft now brings this customer appreciation and understanding
Application servers performed well even when multiple snapshots forward as it looks to continue entering into OEM agreements.
were taken
Kubisys has found R1Soft to be more than just a provider of reliable
These features met or exceeded his expectations. But despite Linus snapshot software or an OEM provider. It views R1Soft as a
Acharya’s enthusiasm in finding a Linux snapshot solution that met partner that it can rely upon to help it confidently deliver the best
his technical requirements, his larger concern was, “How easy would possible experience to its customers.
it be for him to work with R1Soft in an OEM relationship?”
R1Soft Passes the OEM Relationship Test
In past OEM relationships he had found that OEM vendors will fix
problems with their hardware or software but tended not to disclose
exactly what was wrong, what they changed or how that fix might
impact the customer.
For more information about R1Soft (CDP) backup products
visit: www.r1soft.com
R1Soft is a division of BBS Technologies, Inc | 2009 © Copyright BBS Technologies, Inc.