Using Refurbished SAN for Backup and Disaster Recovery

By implementing a combination of new and used storage area network (SAN) equipment in your system, handling DR and backup in-house can be far more affordable than a third-party contract.

Benefits of Using Refurbished SAN for Backup and Disaster Recovery:

• Cost - Don't get stuck in an over-priced DR contract. Affordable used SAN equipment can be used to backup all of your data and implement a disaster recovery plan. By choosing used or refurbished SAN over new, you can save money without sacrificing performance or availability.


• Reliability - If you are monitoring all of your DR and backup operations on used or refurbished SAN equipment in-house, you can take the time to test the system thoroughly.


• Control - With a third party company handling all of your backup and DR needs, you don't always have as much control as you would like over your own data. By implementing used or refurbished SAN for in-house disaster recovery, you can control factors such as where your DR system will be stored.


• Speed - SAN is known for its high-speed performance, and this holds true for used and refurbished SAN as well. You can often find even current generation products available refurbished.

You cannot afford to risk downtime in your business, but that doesn't mean you have to stick with a third-party disaster recovery contract that you can't afford, either. Reasonably priced refurbished or used SAN has the capabilities you need to manage disaster recovery and backup operations in-house, at a fraction of the price.

A storage area network (SAN) never stops evolving. To keep up with the company's ever-changing enterprise storage needs, the IT Director, CIO, or Storage Administrator must regularly purchase new SAN equipment to expand or upgrade the system.

If you find yourself frustrated at the cost to store, manage and protect data, the following 5 guidelines can help you put yourself in a position to negotiate, reduce cost and afford world-class SAN storage infrastructure.

1. Buy Used and New-Overstock SAN Storage - Savings of 20-80% are to be found by leveraging used and new-overstock storage. Data center consolidations, cancelled deals and bankruptcy often push the latest technology into the used marketplace, giving IT managers a cost effective option for capacity upgrades, DR projects and tiered storage.

2. Assess Your Needs - Before you cut a purchase order, ask yourself and your team the tough question -Do you really need all new equipment? Sure, most organizations will need new equipment for mission critical data - perhaps 20%, but that leaves the other 80% unaccounted for. Consider options such as replacing small drives with large drives in legacy arrays, swapping out the controllers and used storage arrays as options to reduce costs.

3. Minimize Capacity - When buying from the manufacture, consider buying a minimum configuration, allowing you to purchase new-overstock or used upgrades to complete the capacity requirements. By using this technique you should expect savings of 30-50%. Not every solution can use this strategy, but it's worth exploring.

4. Use Multiple Vendors - You know the saying about putting all your eggs in one basket. Use a two-vendor strategy, or, if you have to use only one vendor, buy used, overstock, or new-surplus SAN storage from time to time to keep the manufacture on his toes.

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