Overland Storage announced version 3.0 of its REO Protection OS, the data protection software integrated with every REO SERIES disk-based backup and recovery appliance. With this latest release, Overland delivers dramatic performance improvements to accommodate ever-shrinking backup windows while preserving initial REO hardware investments.

Protection OS is a storage operating system designed specifically for REO SERIES appliances, offering the flexibility to configure any combination of virtual tape libraries, virtual tape drives and/or disk volumes. With this latest REO software release, Overland optimized write performance to enable faster backups while the increase in read performance reduces the time required to perform critical copy- or clone-to-tape operations. Additionally, the embedded software boasts performance gains for single- and multi-streaming with both iSCSI and Fibre Channel host connectivity. Protection OS continues to deliver near-instantaneous restores of critical data to speed recovery operations.

"The explosive growth of storage capacity continues to cause havoc with ever-shrinking backup windows and recovery objectives," said Christopher Calisi, president and chief executive officer for Overland Storage. "With version 3.0, we have delivered simple yet powerful data protection software that can take our REO SERIES appliances to a new level of flexibility and performance."

In initial testing conducted on the REO 9000, the latest version of Protection OS accelerated backup speeds by up to 60 percent when compared to the previous version of the software. Performance gains were also realized during copy- or clone-to-tape operations, with a single Fibre Channel REO 9000 driving two LTO-3 tape drives concurrently writing in compressed mode at full-rated speed. More modest performance gains were documented for the REO 4000 and REO 1000, with improvements most evident in single stream backup and clone-to-tape operations. 

This latest version also supports a new Linux 2.6 kernel and redesigned I/O subsystem. Unlike other disk-based backup systems, only the REO SERIES utilizes Protection OS software to deliver a core set of volume and device virtualization, management and connectivity features. Protection OS enables REO appliances to be deployed into nearly any existing backup environment without changes to policies or procedures. An intuitive, browser-based graphical user interface (GUI) streamlines configuration, management and proactive monitoring.