Backup & Disaster Recovery Servers

Backup infrastructure has its own server profile — capacity matters more than CPU, and write throughput must keep up with the production network. The classic build is a 12-bay or 24-bay LFF chassis with low-RPM SATA drives in RAID 6, plus a 10/25/40 GbE NIC for inbound backup traffic.

Pro Disk Network stocks both the platforms (HP ProLiant DL180 Gen9, Dell PowerEdge R510 / R520 / R720xd) and the components (LFF caddies, 10-20 TB nearline SAS/SATA drives, LTO-7/8/9 tape drives, Quantum Scalar i3/i6 tape libraries, HPE StoreOnce dedup appliances).

For Veeam Backup & Replication users: we stock the validated configurations for both Repository (capacity-tier disk) and Proxy (compute-heavy backup-job processing) roles. Dell R740xd 24-bay LFF in RAID 60 with HBA mode + ReFS + Veeam Block Cloning gives you 1.5-2× compression with no licensing cost. We can quote a complete 100 TB backup repository (server + drives + 25GbE + rails) for ~$11-14K refurbished.

For tape-based long-term retention: LTO-9 tape native is 18 TB / 45 TB compressed. We carry both standalone LTO drives and full tape libraries (Quantum Scalar i3 with 25-200 slots, IBM TS4300, HPE MSL3040). Spec-compatible tape cartridges, cleaning carts, and barcode labels are also stocked.

Featured Backup & Disaster Recovery Servers

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between LTO-8 and LTO-9?

LTO-9 stores 18 TB native (45 TB compressed) per tape vs LTO-8's 12 TB native (30 TB compressed). LTO-9 drives are backwards-read-compatible with LTO-8 tapes but NOT LTO-7. If you have an existing LTO-7 library, your migration path is to upgrade the drive to LTO-9 and continue using LTO-7 tapes for read/recovery only.

How much storage for a 30-day retention of 50 TB primary data?

Plan for 1.5-2× the primary-data size, factoring deduplication and incremental-only backups. A 50 TB production environment usually fits in a 75-100 TB backup repository (12× 12 TB drives in RAID 6 = 120 TB raw, ~108 TB usable). With Veeam Block Cloning or Commvault dedupe, this drops to 60-80 TB.

Do you stock immutable backup hardware for ransomware protection?

Yes — HPE StoreOnce with Catalyst Copy + Object Lock, ExaGrid EX series tiered backup with Retention Time-Lock, and Dell PowerProtect DD with retention lock are all in inventory. Veeam Hardened Repository Linux servers using XFS on HPE Apollo 4200 are also stocked.

Is tape backup still relevant?

For long-term archive (7+ years), regulated retention (HIPAA, SEC 17a-4), and air-gapped ransomware protection — yes, tape is the most cost-effective medium. Per-TB cost on LTO-9 is $4-7/TB vs $15-25/TB for nearline disk. Most enterprises run a 3-2-1 strategy with both disk and tape.

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