Based in Hilversum, The Netherlands, Lucent Technologies' LSP unit provides IT support for Lucent test laboratories on-site in Hilversum and at locations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. By 1998, LSP's requirements for backup and recovery had outgrown the capabilities of its existing system: backups of LSP test software, test data files, and test initiation scripts were requiring weeks to complete; remote backup and recovery operations were creating bottlenecks in the corporate network; and response times on recovery and restore requests were suffering. Kanatek architected and delivered an end-to-end, scaleable, backup and recovery solution that provides browser-based, centralized management of all remote backups and restores, and supports the management of these key data assets. Combining technology from Sun Microsystems and Symantec - Kanatek strategic partners and long-time Lucent suppliers - the Kanatek solution has dramatically streamlined backup and recovery operations while significantly reducing the bandwidth demands these operations place on corporate network resources. Perhaps most importantly, the solution has helped increase LSP's responsiveness on recovery operations - the key strategic service the unit provides to Lucent and its customers.

A Growing Backup Backlog

In 1998, the LSP Unit of Lucent Technologies European Division was facing a challenge many organizations are confronting: explosive growth in the amount of data it is to backup and restore - and manage. LSP provides IT support for Lucent test facilities at its headquarters at Hilversum, The Netherlands, and at remote locations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. A key part of its mission is to provide backup and restore capabilities that ensure Lucent can reconfigure test conditions in the over forty labs supported by LSP.

"By mid 1998, the labs we support required about 300 gigabytes of backup a day, and the volume was growing all the time," explains Wolter Wolters, LSP's Senior Systems Engineer. "We had a small tape backup system we had developed, with some Symantec software for managing the system. With the increase in volumes, we knew we needed a more complete solution."

With its existing in-house backup system, LSP required up to four weeks to complete an entire backup, and handling backups from remote labs was demanding increasing amounts of bandwidth on the corporate network. But that was only part of the challenge. "Delayed backups meant our ability to restore test software, test data files, and test initiation scripts was suffering," recalls Wolter Wolters. "Our labs serve both internal Lucent clients and external Lucent customers, so being able to respond quickly on restores is critical to our business."

"Sun Microsystems is one of Lucent's key suppliers, so we first turned to Sun when we identified the need for a new backup and recovery solution," says Wolter Wolters. "Sun referred us to Kanatek as the company it felt could deliver the kind of solution we required."

Kanatek backup and recovery specialists met with the LSP team and together identified the key criteria for a new system. The solution would have to support centralized backup including management of remote site backups. LSP wanted a solution that supported highly automated operator, administrative and tape handling processes, with remote sites running backups based on the assistance/intervention of an operator at Hilversum. "We wanted something highly scalable to meet future capacity requirements, and allow us to support additional nodes as new test facilities came online," notes Mr. Wolters. "And we needed a solution that would reduce our demands on the network."

Kanatek Responds

Kanatek responded to Lucent's requirements with a solution integrating Symantec NetBackup software and two Sun StorEdge L1000 automated tape library in the Hilversum data center. The tape library is loaded with 2 DLT7000 drives, with a Sun Ultra Enterprise 4500 server acting as the shared dedicated NFS/NetBackup master server. Catalog space resides on a RAID5 filesystem shared on a Sun StorEdge A3500 attached to the Sun E4500. Remote sites act as separate, independent slave servers connected to local L280 Tape Stackers. Symantec Volume Manager and File System products are also part of the solution, supporting enhanced management of data at all locations. Backup is now performed locally, but managed centrally from Hilversum by just one designated LSP engineer using a simple browser-based interface. Installation, implementation, documentation and training took place over a three-month period.

Dramatic Reduction in Network Usage, Backup & Recovery Times

"The Kanatek solution meets all of the requirements we set out in the beginning and integrates with our existing infrastructure," says LSP's Wolters. "It reduces our demands on the network, is simple to use, reliable, and easy to maintain."

A dramatic reduction in network usage by LSP was immediately noted and appreciated by Lucent's IT department. "Now we're just sending brief management commands to the remote systems, and receiving updates to our central backup database."

Instead of weeks, backups now take just one day to complete. Recorded backup tapes are stored at a secure Lucent facility. All supported labs have the same tape systems, so test conditions can be recreated in any of the labs supported by LSP. Rather than add congestion to the network with large file transfers, LSP simply couriers tapes to any lab requiring a restore. Restores can be performed locally or from Hilversum.

Supports More Responsive Service, Management Reporting

"The Kanatek solution enables us to restore data and reconfigure labs much more quickly and reliably than ever before," reports Mr. Wolters. "This is central to the service LSP provides."

Highly automated, LSP's entire backup and recovery operation is now managed by just two Lucent people, following a few days of training by Kanatek. The system's browser-based, drop and drag interface is very intuitive and easy to operate, and provides management information by summary, detail, backup/restore, errors, with historical views.

"Our managers can now go in and review backup stats and see where bottlenecks are occurring using their browser, and the system provides us with a comprehensive report each Friday detailing all backup activities performed that week," says Mr. Wolters.

Kanatek Delivers

"Sun introduced us to Kanatek as key knowledge people, and Kanatek delivered on their word," says Mr. Wolters. "They are excellent at resolving problems, very responsive and took real ownership on this assignment." Paul Schindeler, Kanatek's European Business Manager, says the LSP assignment is a good example of the value Kanatek brings to major customers. "We have the technical know-how, we know the European scene, and we make it our business to know our customers' business." The new Lucent backup and recovery solution is now being supported 24/7 by Kanatek Client Services. "

"The whole thing is working beautifully," reports Mr. Wolters, "which is a good thing, since we've more than doubled our backup volume in the past half year alone."