Backup Appliance: Unified Physical Data Storage and Safekeeping

Backup appliance is a type of a storage device dedicated for backup purposes. A backup appliance contains not only a storage device but also a software solution providing all backup operations related to this particular device.

The main purpose of a backup appliance device is to provide backup “out-of-the-box”, reducing user efforts to store a data copy to almost zero level. Another purpose is the system integration, optimizing and merging storage and backup features to minimize both cost and time of backup.

All existed backup appliance storages belong to one of two broad types: local and network-based data backup appliances.

Local backup appliance devices provide fast connection and high backup speed, as well as a big storage for a relatively cheap price. Among these devices, we can mark different models of external hard drives with built-in backup software solutions.

Network-oriented backup appliance services can be big data clouds with dedicated backup clients, or just almost the same storages as local devices, connected by a network instead of fast USB 3.0, eSATA or FireWire connections.

Between these models, some transitional backup appliance storages exist, using fast local network connections to provide a relatively high speed for a big amount of backup data. Different NAS units, including such dedicated backup appliance units as Apple TimeCapsule, have a transitional design.

You can make a backup appliance storage from any data-keeping device (e.g. a local server or a NAS unit) by installing and tuning a backup solution on it. For example, with a Handy Backup Server Network software solution, you can turn all your local network storages into separate backup appliance units!