Predictable data recovery from disk

Because DPM is disk-based, it can take advantage of the additional reliability benefits of a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) for protection. This is an advantage over tape because tape has the potential to be a single point of failure.

Validation and fix-up process

Recovery options

The most common scenario for recovering lost or corrupted files is a request by the end user to the IT help desk to find an archived version. Assuming that the business has an archiving system in place, this request usually means a costly and time-intensive search of archived media that, in many instances, is a tape backup. DPM provides practical recovery alternatives:

End-user recovery

In addition to being integrated across all Windows Server System products, DPM is also integrated with the most commonly used business productivity tools: the Microsoft Windows XP operating system and Microsoft Office 2003.

Efficient data protection

Because DPM logs and replicates only byte-level changes to files on production servers, it affects production server performance much less than a full tape backup would.

Flexible replication scheduling

IT administrators set the replication frequency using declarative data-management specifications tailored to match the business value of the data. IT administrators can also customize protection schedules for specific data sources, and they can review and update their protection plans as data replication and volumes change.

The most common data replication modes are hourly and daily. DPM also provides the flexibility to specify a customized replication schedule that meets the recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) goals of the business. Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is used as a second-tier option to enable the rapid recovery of files from a past point in time.

Frequent shadow copies

Shadow copies are block-level copies of any changes that have occurred to protected objects on a production server since the last shadow copy. Only the changes are copied, not the entire file.

Scheduling of shadow copies

Shadow copies can be scheduled independently of the replication schedule. DPM builds on the VSS infrastructure to create nearly instantaneous shadow copies that can be stored on the server running DPM. This allows you to browse through and recover deleted or corrupted files from multiple points in time. These objects are cached on the server running DPM before being copied to the tape backup during the regularly scheduled backup process.

Protection from network outages and hardware failures

The DPM Agent logs and replicates the data from each of the production servers to the server running DPM. If the production server goes down or is destroyed, a copy of the data is still available on the server running DPM. If the network goes down, the agent that is local on the production server continues to cache all the changes in the production server until the network is working again.

Network throttling

You can minimize the impact that data protection replication has on your network because DPM has the capability to throttle network traffic. You can set minimum network performance metrics to control scheduled data replication processes so that, if the network is busy, the replication process will not negatively affect network performance.

Tape integration

IT administrators can, at any time, perform a backup to tape of data from the server running DPM, and do so without compromising product server performance. This feature increases the overall efficiency of the data-protection infrastructure and lowers total protection costs. This enables businesses to change their scheduled nightly tape backups to daytime, further reducing the need to have specialized administrators available on nights and weekends.

Lower cost of acquisition

Because DPM uses industry-standard hardware and software, its acquisition cost is much lower than that of any other proprietary, expensive data protection technology.

Lower training costs

Because DPM is part of Windows Server System, it contains tools that are already in your server software, such as Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and Windows Explorer, and that are familiar to IT administrators.

Automation of discovery and common tasks

When initially installed, DPM automatically discovers all the production servers in the domain that need to be protected. As new servers are added to the network, DPM discovers and alerts the administrator that unprotected servers exist in the environment, creating a seamless protection, recovery, and maintenance solution.

Simplified administration

Simplified administration allows the delegation of recovery and simplified administrative tasks, report creation, and process automation. Some examples include:

Fewer tape backups

With DPM, IT administrators can maintain 30 days' worth of shadow copies on disk and create tape backups for disaster recovery scenarios on a less-frequent basis. This policy results in fewer tape backups and less money spent on tape media.