Storage Replication Software
From DesigningPatterns
Contents |
Products
DRDB
DRDB is a Linux filesystem that acts as "network RAID-1"; it basically mirrors any writes to a remote destination.
Advantages
- Very clean.
- Reads are fast (they are done from local storage).
- Free
Disadvantages
- Only exists for Linux.
SureSync
SureSync is a file replication product that claims to support high availability. It only supports Windows, although apparently Linux and Macintosh client systems are possible.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Windows DFS
Advantages
- Free with Windows Server 2003
Disadvantages
- Does not scale past 64 GB (see this Microsoft Knowledge Base article).
Marathon everRun
A high availability suite for Windows.
Disadvantages
- Very expensive ($16,000 for two severs!)
- Little technical documentation on the site, so it's tricky to understand exactly how it integrates with the environment.
File Replication Pro
File Replication Pro is made by DiaSoft.
EMC RepliStor
Advantages
- It's EMC.
- Works with Windows 2003.
Disadvantages
- Asynchronous replication
Bakbone NetVault Replicator
CA XOSoft
Disadvantages
- This message thread speaks negatively of it, although there are no concrete reasons given.
Symantec Veritas Replicator
SteelEye
BestSync
ViceVersa
Basic Info
Advantages
- Very inexpensive.
- Can throttle bandwidth and CPU usage.
- Can replicate to multiple destinations.
- Has some scripting and command-line support.
Disadvantages
- Cannot replicate over the internet, unless the hosts are connected by a VPN.
- Not really network aware; only can replicate over a network to folders mapped via Window drive sharing.
- Does file level difference-checking and replication, not bit level.
- GUI not that polished.
- The scheduling engine is sold separately. The product does not seem to have the idea of continuous replication built-in; this need to be scheduled by the user (i.e., run every minute).
- Does not encrpyt/decrypt data in transmit seamlessly (it leaves the target files encrypted).
LinkPro
Basic Info
References
- Message posting with good comments about the various products.
- Comparison of Double Take and XOSoft
