Just last April, we announced NetWorker 8.2. NetWorker continues to add solid and innovative enhancements providing value to your data protection initiatives.
I’d like to take some time to go a little deeper into the newly introduced NAS snapshot management support, helping you to better meet your RTO’s and RPO’s using snapshot technology as an enabler for fast, non-disruptive backup as well as full and granular recovery.
Integrated Snapshot Management
While integrated block-based snapshot support was introduced last year in NetWorker 8.1, the latest NetWorker release expands centralized support to include EMC VNX/VNXe (file) and EMC Isilon, as well as NetApp Filers. NetWorker Snapshot Management is ready and available for use without further installation procedures and is included with existing NDMP capacity-based licensing. This makes it super easy to incorporate snapshots as a complementary technology to backup when protecting large volumes of data, as you would typically find on NAS systems.
Snapshot Discovery
Unique in the industry to NetWorker is its ability to discover snapshots on supported NAS systems previously created by a Storage Administrator using their native tools. These snapshots are cataloged along with those created by NetWorker and can be used for rollover to backup media or for a variety of recovery scenarios. They will also be included in NetWorker reports. This feature delivers bi-directional catalog awareness to both the Storage and Backup Administrators, with visibility to all snapshots in the environment.
Centralized Lifecycle Management
NetWorker offers consistent workflows between supported SAN and NAS storage, ensuring ease of use with no additional training required. Guided configuration using wizards eases the process and workflow steps, thus eliminating scripting and reducing errors. Lifecycle and retention of snapshots are based on policies easily configured using the wizard, as well as identifying which snapshot copies should be rolled over to backup media, such as Data Domain or tape.
Snapshots are easily created through NetWorker integration with the snapshot and replication API’s for the NAS device. Where replication support is available (as with Isilon) the wizard enables you to replicate the snapshot to a remote device as part of the overall snapshot operation.
Flexible Recovery Options
And, when it comes time to recover needed data, NetWorker offers flexible options that include recovery from either the snapshot or a backup copy, as well as full or granular recovery. Granular recovery is achieved through browsing the volume or snapshot and choosing the level of data you’d like to recover, ranging from a complete volume, directory or a single file. And, you may choose to recover to the original location or a different one on the same type of storage system.
You Don’t Have to Choose
I think that everyone will agree that both snapshot and backup technologies have merit as part of an overall data protection strategy. EMC includes both in our Data Protection Continuum—the premise that a full spectrum of complementary technologies, from 
continuous availability to archive, are required in order to ensure complete protection. NetWorker makes it easy to choose which strategy makes the most sense for your RTO/RPO requirements. While snapshots can be used for dynamic environments with tight RPO’s, backup can be easily employed to ensure DR and longer term data retention while reducing primary storage requirements and cost. The net/net is, you don’t have to make the choice between snapshot and backup strategies—choose both with NetWorker and use each where they make the most sense, from a single centralized interface, as part of a comprehensive data protection strategy.
To learn more, watch the NAS snapshot demo on YouTube or take a look at the NetWorker Snapshot Management white paper on emc.com. Don’t forget to stay in touch by joining the conversations in the NetWorker Online Community and let us know what you think!