NetApp's AltaVault is enabling NASA to protect mission-critical data, optimise cloud footprint and drive down cost.

“With one of the largest cloud footprints of any U.S. federal government agency, NASA had very specific requirements for how to support its backup to the cloud initiatives,” said Phil Brotherton, vice president, Data Fabric Group at NetApp). “Following a proof of concept trial, NASA determined AltaVault was the best choice to protect its data, optimise its cloud footprint, and drive down cost.”

NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) has served as a hub of human spaceflight activity for more than half a century. It is home to the nation’s astronaut corps, the International Space Station mission operations, the Orion Program, and a host of future space developments. The center plays a pivotal role in enhancing scientific and technological knowledge to benefit all of humankind.

They rely on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud to scale efficiently and elastically, enjoying the freedom and flexibility to store large volumes of data inexpensively. Faced with more than four petabytes of critical decision-making data from video, satellites, cameras and telescopes, NASA turned to NetApp for a more secure and efficient way to move, manage and protect their data.

Last year, NASA’s Informational Resources Directorate (IRD) ran a proof of concept to store backup data in the cloud with AWS to reduce costs. The IRD used its existing Veritas NetBackup environment and deployed two NetApp AltaVault appliances as the interface. The proof of concept was a success and the solution is now in production. In addition, IRD documented the lessons learned to share with other centers as best practices.

With NetApp AltaVault, NASA has been able to:

•Secure data – To meet both federal and NASA regulations, JSC needed a solution that could keep their data secure at all time. AltaVault met this requirement due to its ability to ensure data encryption both in flight and at rest.

•Drive down cost, optimise cloud footprint – JSC needed a solution that would not tax the institutional network. AltaVault met that requirement with a network impact less than what JSC initially expected. Additionally, deduplication and compression means that JSC can further optimise its cloud footprint and drive down costs.

•Enjoy easy integration into existing infrastructure – Due to JSC’s large and complex backup infrastructure, it needed a solution that could complement its legacy NetBackup installation. To that end, JSC personnel installed the first unit without outside help.

NetApp recently released version 4.2 of AltaVault cloud-integrated storage. Version 4.2 has expanded the product’s open platform with the addition of new cloud targets, support for additional backup software, and the new KVM hypervisor for virtual appliances. Customers now have the opportunity to protect branch offices in the cloud with the new 2TB virtual appliance. For customers using NetBackup, AltaVault now supports Veritas OST. With each release AltaVault is delivering new functionality to provide customers, like NASA, an efficient, open, secure, and simple cloud backup solution.