White Paper

Today, IS professionals face a dilemma that, lacking a solution, has far reaching implications for the future: How to implement an effective backup policy utilizing current network infrastructure. The solution becomes more elusive when we add to it the trend towards "maximum" computing. Demand for feature rich applications sporting graphics and multimedia effects has given rise to a significant increase in data file size. Moreover, this trend shows no sign of abating any time soon.

Therefore, an efficient backup strategy is rapidly becoming a top priority for IS. As "backup windows" decrease, file size increases, and file locations become decentralized, IS professionals are looking to create a more easily managed backup environment. To that end, focus has turned towards establishing a centralized backup methodology utilizing the Client/Server model found in many of today's most advanced applications.

This paper is not intended to focus attention on any specific backup program. Rather, it strives to give the reader insight into some of the underlying technology and recent innovations in backup systems.

To meet the demand for a centralized "Server Centric" backup policy, software developers have created some noteworthy applications. Many utilize "clients" or "agents" residing on workstations that permit the server access to remote workstation files during an enterprise backup session.

However, there is one major underlying factor that diminishes the effectiveness of most of these programs: Full file incremental backups. More specifically, any minor change in a file requires the backup of the entire contents of that file. There are obvious ramifications as the size of data files increases and the network bandwidth to back them up decreases.

This gives rise to an important observation: While workers may be creating larger files, daily changes to those files are, on average, small. This leads to the obvious conclusion that If there were a procedure in place to permit the extraction and backup of only those portions of a file that change day to day, backup size and time would dramatically decrease.

While not new, the concept of backing up only binary changes to data has, nonetheless, eluded backup software developers. However, if one delves into the actual mechanism of such a function, one quickly realizes that the process is not as straight forward as first observation might suggest. In fact, it is far more complex. It is this complexity that has relegated the concept to being just that, a concept, until now.

Recently, programs that perform "Televaulting" or off-site backups have been receiving significant press. Utilizing standard telecommunications devices such as modems and ISDN adapters, these backup applications collect and backup changed data to a remote site. However, If one scrutinized this process carefully, one quickly realizes that, using current technology, such an application would have little use in a large business environment.

To increase acceptance of televaulting as a viable backup solution for the corporate world, developers have invested a significant amount of time and expense into improving the underlying technology. Two significant innovations have come from these efforts. Both of which permit discrete data changes to be backed up instead of the entire file.

The first innovation to come from the development of the latest backup software is referred to as "block technology". In one form or another, block technology has been around for some time and was originally developed as a method for mirroring data from one hard drive to another.

In essence, the block technology process evaluates changed data by breaking a file down into discrete blocks of information. These blocks are typically between 4 and 32 kilobytes in size. Through the use of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), block technology compares each block of a modified file with the corresponding block in the previous version of that file. When the process detects a difference, it extracts a copy of that discrete block, not the entire file. In practice, changes in files will usually result in a number of blocks being copied. However, the cumulative size of these blocks will be less than that of the original file. This has the effect of reducing the total backup size and time.

However, observing block technology in action reveals that it produces larger file sizes than one would expect. This is, in part, due to the use of fixed block size. If only 1 kilobyte of data has changed, but the block size is 16 kilobytes, the entire 16-kilobyte block is extracted. Combine this with similar changes to other blocks and one will observe that the size of the extracted data can be significantly greater than the actual size of the changed data.

The second backup technology making headlines today is "FastBIT^tm binary patching". Originally developed over 8 years ago as a method for upgrading software, binary patching has received widespread acceptance by many of the world's largest hardware and software manufacturers including IBM, Compaq and Microsoft.

To cut costs and decrease the time to market, manufacturers distribute their updates as tiny files or "patches" containing only the binary difference between the old and new version of their software. Once received by the client, these patches are applied or merged into the existing file instantly upgrading it to the latest release. An obvious advantage is that the size of the upgrade is reduced significantly. This permits clients to use modem dial-up connections to obtain software updates instead of the more traditional forms of distribution such as floppy disk or CD-ROM.

Although FastBIT binary patching may sound similar to block technology, it differs in one significant aspect: FastBIT binary patching does not evaluate a file as a collection of discrete blocks rather, as a continuous string of binary data.

Utilizing a complex algorithm and special memory management, FastBIT binary patching is capable of comparing files and extracting "patches" of binary data that represent only the specific changes to those files. Simply put, If only 1 kilobyte of data has actually changed in the file, then only a 1-kilobyte patch is extracted for backup thus eliminating the overhead imposed by block technology methodology.

In a real world backup scenario, each discrete patch is combined with those from other files into a single archive and then compressed. This compressed archive is transferred to a backup server, and the patches are extracted and saved either discretely or are applied to the server's copy of the original data file.

Observing the binary patching process, one can quickly see a significant decrease in backup size over that of the block technology system. This is clearly demonstrated in table 1, which outlines the results of a carefully designed and executed test.

To better understand the effectiveness of block technology versus FastBIT binary patching, a simulated workflow model was created that closely approximated that of the average business-computing environment. Table 1 outlines the results of applying this workflow model to a group of 5 file sets that one might find in the average corporation.

While it is obvious that each technology produced backup files substantially smaller than the original, it is evident that FastBIT binary patching significantly outperformed block technology in every instance. Moreover, while the results may seem inconsequential at this level, when multiplying these figures by the large number of users an average corporation might have, the difference becomes staggering.

(TABLE 1) Backup Technology Comparison

	Full Backup	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5
Base Line⁺	15 Mbytes	4.4 Mbytes	5.2 Mbytes	4.8 Mbytes	6.8 Mbytes	4.1 Mbytes
*FastBIT Binary Patch*	4 Mbytes	250 Kbytes	360 Kbytes	69 Kbytes^*	512 Kbytes^**	242 Kbytes
*Block Technology*	4 Mbytes	561 Kbytes^*	1.3 Mbytes	1.1 Mbytes	1.5 Mbytes	1.6 Mbytes^**

In the past, corporate and IS professionals alike have viewed data backup as a necessary evil. While most professionals understand the ramifications of a poorly conceived backup strategy, many hesitate to develop more formalized procedures in light of reduced resources and network bandwidth. Furthermore, even IS managers with adequate resources often relegate the backup process to a subordinate task because of the increased management required.

In an attempt to simplify the backup process and reduce data flow over current network infrastructure, backup systems incorporating block technology and binary patching have been developed. Because of their ability to extract small discrete binary changes that occur in data files, these new technologies will lead the way toward improved backup procedures for all who adopt them.

However, as in any market, one finds that not all products or technologies are created equal. A unique few will rise and stand above the competition. FastBIT Binary Patching is such an example. With its ability to extract only that data which has changed within a file, FastBIT binary patching promises to lead the industry by greatly reducing the burden that current backup systems place on networks and IS professionals alike.

Remote Backup Client Features

A crucial component of Remote Backup Service is the WEB client software. End-users simply download and install the client software, and their computers are ready to backup and restore data securely across the Internet to a secure server.

Getting Started Wizard

The Getting Started Wizard will automatically appear if any of the critical fields have been left blank when NovaNet-WEB was run. This wizard walks the user through the steps of connecting to the backup server, configuring backup sets, creating a backup schedule and setting a secret encryption key.

FastBIT Incremental Backups

The most efficient backup technology available today, FastBIT technology can accurately extract only the changes that you've made to a file since your last backup. This efficiency is achieved by using the powerful FastBIT difference engine to identify and extract the binary-level differences on two versions of any file. On average, FastBIT backups are more than 6 times smaller and faster than similar block technologies, which translates to using only 1/6 of the bandwidth and server storagespace.

Silent Mode

The NovaNet-WEB Client now supports a Silent mode that will allow the program to run silently in the background without displaying any Windows or Task Bar icons.

Multiple Version Restoration

All NovaNet-WEB users have instant access to restore any version of their data files. Although each incremental backup contains the small changed portions of the file, the server software has the capability of recovering any version of a file from the initial backup to the last incremental backup and EVERY version in between.

Automatic Online Upgrades

All version upgrades can be distributed to all end-users automatically after completing a backup. When new versions of the client software are available, the update patches can be placed on the server to allow client to automatically get updated to the latest version. All update patches are created with the same FastBIT technology to reduce transfer time. Upgrades happen seamlessly without any user intervention required.

Event Manager

If a scheduled backup is missed, the next time the computer is started the Event Manager will display the missed event and allow the user to immediately perform the missed event. f a backup fails to complete successfully, the Event Manager will try the backup again when the computer is restarted or NovaNet-WEB is executed. If a backup fails due to a network problem, the Event Manager will prompt the user to complete the backup at a later date.

E-mail Notification

The client software can be configured to send an e-mail to any user(s) upon any successful backup or a backup with errors or warnings. A summary of the attempt is sent in the body of the message and the complete log file may be attached as an option.

Backup Sets

NovaNet-WEB features the ability to create an unlimited number of backup sets. Since backup sets can be scheduled to run independently, a user can configure multiple backup sets to run at different times. For example, a backup set containing all data files can be configured to run at the end of each week and another backup set containing a single database file can be configured to run multiple times per day. All file versions will still be immediately available for the user to restore.

Advanced Encryption

All data is stored in an encrypted format and all communications between the client and server are encrypted. Users can choose between DES, Triple-DES and Blowfish encryption algorithms. The software is available with exportable levels of encryption for International customers.

File Filters

Including or excluding files from the backup selection is possible with set filters that can be created manually or with an easy-to-use filter wizard. Filters can be created to include all data files on a users system to avoid hunting through a hard drive for all of the data files. Filters can easily be shared with any other users.

Enhanced Scheduling

Enhanced scheduling options have been added to the client software to help automate the backup process. The new scheduling capabilities allow users to configure backups at any time, multiple times per day or even before Windows Shut Down. Additionally, any third party scheduling application can be used to run the backup application by scheduling simple command line calls to run an automated backup.

System Tray Control

Upon installation, a small application is configured to run in your Windows System Tray. (The Windows System Tray is located at the bottom right-hand corner of your computer screen.) This application monitors the scheduling process and give the end user quick access to a number of useful functions, including:

Backup and Close - Run a backup and then close the application when finished.
Backup and Logoff - Run a backup and logoff the system when finished.
Backup and Shutdown - Run a backup and shutdown the system when finished.
And more...

Log File Review and Printing

All backup and restore transactions are thoroughly logged on the client and the server applications. The user can quickly review and print the client logs from the client application. The server maintains a Master Log of all general user activity and records detailed information for each user to help track usage and aid in technical support.

Configurable 3^rd Party Tools

NovaNet-WEB supports the ability to run any 3rd party application(s) before or after a backup or restore action. For instance NovaNet-WEB can be configured to run a virus scanner before the backup and run a defragmentation utility after the backup. A virus scanner can also be configured to run after every restore process.

CPU Utilization

Since the FastBIT technology leverages the CPU power to get the great file reductions, it can be taxing on the processor. Since some backups are done while the user is working on the system and some backups are done after hours when the user is away, we allow the CPU utilization to be configured. Users can give the backup application all the processing power it needs, or make the backup application subordinate to other tasks.

Customizable Toolbars

NovaNet-WEB supplies useful toolbars for users. The toolbars can be customized and displayed based on the users individual preference to quickly access commonly used functions.

International Localization - German, Dutch, French, Spanish

NovaNet-WEB has been engineered to quickly accept translations to several languages including German, French, Dutch and Spanish. Additional languages will be available in the future. Please contact us if you would like a localized version for a new language.