Appassure 5 Deployment Architecture - Dell PowerVault DL4000 User Manual

Figure 1. AppAssure True Scale Architecture
The AppAssure Volume Manager and scalable object store serve as the foundation of the AppAssure 5 True Scale
architecture. The scalable object store stores block-level snapshots that are captured from virtual and physical servers.
The volume manager manages the numerous object stores by providing a common repository or just-in-time storage for
only what is needed. The object store concurrently supports everything with asynchronous I/O that delivers high
throughput with minimal latency and maximizes system utilization. The repository resides on different storage
technologies such as Storage Area Network (SAN), Direct Attached Storage (DAS), or Network Attached Storage (NAS).
The role of the AppAssure Volume Manager is similar to the role of the volume manager in an operating system, as it
takes various storage devices which can be of different sizes and types and combines them into logical volumes, using
striped or sequential allocation policies. The object store saves, retrieves, maintains, and then replicates objects that
are derived from application-aware snapshots. The volume manager delivers scalable I/O performance in tandem with
global data deduplication, encryption, and retention management.

AppAssure 5 Deployment Architecture

AppAssure 5 is a scalable backup and recovery product that is flexibly deployed within the enterprise or as a service
delivered by a managed service provider. The type of deployment depends on the size and requirements of the
customer. Preparing to deploy AppAssure 5 involves planning the network storage topology, core hardware and disaster
recovery infrastructure, and security.
The AppAssure 5 deployment architecture consists of local and remote components. The remote components may be
optional to those who do not want to leverage a disaster recovery site or a managed service provider for off-site
recovery. A basic local deployment consists of a backup server called the Core and one or more protected machines
known as the agents. The off-site component is enabled using replication that provides full recovery capabilities in the
DR site. The AppAssure 5 Core uses base images and incremental snapshots to compile recovery points of protected
agents.
Additionally, AppAssure 5 is application-aware because it has the ability to detect the presence of Microsoft Exchange
and SQL and their respective databases and log files and then automatically group these volumes with dependency for
comprehensive protection and effective recovery. This ensures that you never have incomplete backups when you are
performing recoveries. Backups are performed using application-aware block-level snapshots. AppAssure 5 can also
perform log truncation of the protected Microsoft Exchange and SQL servers.
The following diagram describes the AppAssure 5 deployment architecture.
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