NAKIVO VM Backup Appliance Based on Synology NAS Cuts IT Administration Time by 75% for Diam Group
Business Challenge
For more than 40 years, Diam Group has been supporting brands by creating unforgettable consumer experiences at the point of sale. The company offers a large range of merchandising solutions, from concept creating to engineering, production, delivery, and point of sale maintenance, and maintains high quality, creative design and social responsibility. Diam’s customers range from various cosmetics, makeup, healthcare, eyewear, wines and spirits, watches and jewelry, and electronics brands.
Diam’s Group IT infrastructure consists of five sites in North and South America. “We have 10 hosts and 50 VMware VMs. We have an ERP system, which is the backbone of our entire company. We have a file storage, domain controllers, wireless controllers, and some VMs run CNS routing machines for manufacturing,” says Michael Spoljaric, IT Specialist at Diam Group.
For Diam Group, VM recovery is essential because any system downtime or data loss can translate into lost productivity, lost revenue, and lost time. “If anything goes wrong with our infrastructure, we would experience tremendous difficulties. The cost for the business would be pretty expensive, talking about a tens of thousands of dollars per day of downtime. Communication with our customers would be hindered because projects would be offline. Moreover, the ERP system, which controls project management, accounting, purchasing, payroll, and email would be down as well. We needed a dependable solution that would recover our data quickly, with minimal losses,” says Michael.
Formerly, Diam Group did not have a backup solution in place and relied on manual VMware snapshots. “We have never performed VM backups. We did not have a disaster recovery strategy. We have never experienced a disaster situation, so we were not sure, if our recovery approach was working or not,” says Michael. Nevertheless, it was time for Diam Group to turn to a well-balanced backup solution. “We started to experience a little bit of downtime with VMs, so it was time to implement appropriate disaster recovery plans. We wanted to have stable VM backups and VM replication to store data offsite,” says Michael.
Solution
Michael found NAKIVO Backup & Replication on Spiceworks and, given the 5 star rating, decided to give it a try. While NAKIVO Backup & Replication provides a variety of deployment options, Michael decided to install the product on Synology NAS: “I personally prefer Synology NAS installation because all components are unified in one system and our infrastructure resources are not consumed by backup workloads. What’s more, Synology-based VM backup appliance is separate from our VMware environment and can be used for recovery even if a part of our infrastructure goes down,” says Michael.
Deploying NAKIVO Backup & Replication, directly onto Synology NAS, improves performance, decreases storage space, improves disaster recovery, and saves budget. “It was easy to set up the product and get it running. The web interface is not cluttered. With other software, some things are always somewhere hidden, but with NAKIVO Backup & Replication, everything is in front of you, there is no need to read the manuals,” he says.
“During evenings, we perform VM backup of our ERP system and back up all other applications on weekends. VM backup is very fast and it takes us less than 2 hours to back up our entire infrastructure.”
To keep backups safe, NAKIVO Backup & Replication provides Backup Copy jobs, which offer a simple and powerful way to create and maintain copies of VM backups. “Having more than one copy of VM backups is vital for ensuring fast recovery, in case of a disaster. If one site goes offline, I will always have a duplicate copy at a different site. I can store my copies onsite, offsite, or in the Amazon cloud, making it more reliable and affordable,” says Michael.
In addition to backup copy, screenshot verification brings additional advantages to Diam Group. “With screenshot verification, I am able to see that my VM backups are successful and working. This feature saves me time because I do not need to manually manage and check each VM backup,” says Michael.
In addition to VM backup and backup copy, Diam Group uses VM replication for disaster recovery. “With NAKIVO Backup & Replication, the VM replication speed is fast, but recovery time is even faster,” says Michael. With VM replication, recovery times are dramatically faster when compared to restoring from VM backups.
Results
“I tested other products for VMware backup, but I chose NAKIVO Backup & Replication in the end,” says Michael. With NAKIVO Backup & Replication, Diam Group gained a powerful, affordable, and well-rounded solution. Previously, Diam Group did not have a backup solution in place and started to experience downtime, but with NAKIVO Backup & Replication, data loss and downtime are successfully eliminated. “The biggest value comes from VM replication and screenshot verification. With NAKIVO Backup & Replication, I can store VMs offsite, recover entire VMs in minutes, and have a proof of recoverability – this is amazing,” says Michael.
Due to screenshot verification, Diam Group is now able to concentrate on other business operations, instead of focusing on VM backup maintenance. “We spend 75% less time on IT administration with NAKIVO Backup & Replication. We can focus our attention on other tasks that drive our business. Compared to other backup solutions, NAKIVO Backup & Replication is easy to use, right out of the box, user friendly, and offers an excellent combination of pricing and features,” says Michael.
Company Profile
Diam Group creates, develops, produces, and installs a large range of merchandising solutions to enhance product’s visibility in store. For more than 40 years, Diam Group has been supporting brands to improve and renew their point of sale, while offering consumers a unique experience in store. The Diam Group consists of 2,000 people that are working across 21 different countries around the world. With over 900 satisfied brands, Diam Group services such markets as wines and spirits, watches and jewelry, health and beauty, makeup, healthcare, electronics, and other special projects. The company offers creative design and impeccable quality that is achieved by setting tight technical challenges and sticking to them, as well as supporting the client, every step of the way. The key to the company’s culture lies in listening to clients, ensuring total satisfaction, maintaining diversity in teams, and honoring social responsibility. For more information, visit www.diaminter.com.