www.buffalo-asia.com
Kagoya Japan Inc.,Japan
Naoki Fushimi, DC Team Subleader, Techology Group, Kagoya Japan Inc.
Low-cost, “hassle-free” automatic backup of data stored on company premises, an important business asset
Terastation Remote Backup Service
Kagoya Japan Inc.: Example of Company Incorporating NAS
The “Terastation Remote Backup Service” offered by Kagoya Japan Inc., a firm developing its business in data center and rental server operations, utilizes BUFFALO’s “Terastatlon” network attached storage (NAS). In addition, BUFFALO IT Solutions, one of the BUFFALO Group companies, is strongly supporting this development with Installation, settings, and maintenance services for devices used in customers’ environments.
Overview
・”Automatic Backup Service” protects customers’
data from disasters and failure
・”TeraStation” is utilized for its high resistance to failure and superior cost performance
・Safe and trustworthy maintenance system requires no specialized IT or backup expertise
Regardless of the size or type of enterprise, the data that businesses collect is an important company asset. It is unacceptable when a company loses supplier and customer information, business operations data, and other kinds of data accumulated over many years due to natural disasters or overwritten files and other operational mistakes. Backups are needed to protect data from these kinds of accidents, but many companies have problems setting up and managing reliable backup systems on their own, as they don’t have any employees who are especially knowledgeable about systems, or they may be concerned about the costs. One solution to these business issues is the Terastation Remote Backup Service now being offered by Kagoya Japan Inc. and BUFFALO. If trouble ever strikes, the “maintenance system” responds immediately and thoroughly with safe, secure, and solid backups.
Even Customers with No Specialized Knowledge Can Back Up Important Data Simply and Automatically
Located in the center of Kyoto, Kagoya Japan Inc. had developed outsourcing services to store and manage corporate IT assets with their data center, hosting, and other services. Many different businesses keep servers and other IT equipment at Kagoya Japan’s data center in Keihanna Science City (Kansai Science City), where the data is protected and utilized. First offered in January 2013, Kagoya Japan’s “Terastation Remote Backup Service” automatically backs up crucial data for a variety of different companies, protecting the data from disaster and loss. Even after finally deciding to back up their important data, many businesses are confused about how to proceed, with worries about device selection (“What equipment should we be using?”) and assigning the right company employees to be responsible for backing up the data (“Who can confirm that the data has been properly backed up?”). The Terastation Remote Backup Service is a solution to these businesses’ concerns.
Solutions Offered
Customer’s Data Automatically Backed Up in Two Locations—the Company and the Remote Site
First, in selecting the device to be used for the backup, the stand-alone “TeraStation” NAS server equipped with RAID functions is set up on the customer company’s premises, and a corresponding rack-mounted “TeraStation” server is installed at Kagoya Japan’s data center. The system is configured so that whenever important data is written to the TeraStation installed at the company, the same data is automatically backed up to a corresponding TeraStation at Kagoya Japan’s data center. This not only enables simple, reliable backups, it also provides peace of mind if data is ever lost when backup devices at the company are damaged in an earthquake, fire, or other disaster, as the data is also backed up remotely at Kagoya Japan’s data center. BUFFALO has assigned the work of installing the Terastations as well as post-failure recovery and other maintenance operations to BUFFALO IT Solutions. Naoki Fushimi, DC Team Subleader in Kagoya Japan’s Technology Group, explained the concept of service development, saying, “We had occasionally used BUFFALO’s Terastations for backing up data at our own company. Since they are so convenient and easy to use, we got the idea for this service when it occurred to us that “even people who don’t know much about IT and people who have no specialized knowledge about backups can reliably protect critical data.”
Important Points in Selecting Devices
Important Points in Selecting Devices for Better Resistance to Failure, Superior Cost Performance, and Ease of Use
The TeraStation Remote Backup Senlice uses the “TeraStation TS-QVHL/R6 Series” stand-alone model as the device installed at the customer’s location, with the TeraStation TS-RVHL/R6 Series” rackmount model installed at Kagoya Japan’s Data Center. The company had a number of points to consider in selecting this equipment. One was support for “RAlD6.” A more developed version of the RAIDS redundant backup system, the RAlD6 system distributes and saves the data on configurations with four or more internal hard disks. A special feature of this system is that it can holds on to the data even when a failure causes one or even two of the hard disks to become non~functional—no data is lost, as it is backed up on the remaining disks. There are other points besides RAlD6 support that the company considered in selecting the devices, such as superior cost performance and low failure rates. Actually, Kagoya Japan apparently considered the matter of equipment selection from many different angles to determine if they could provide the same service more cheaply with another manufacturer’s products. Mr. Fushimi explained the reasons why Kagoya Japan selected BUFFALO’s products over the others. “Firstly, there was nothing else that had the TeraStation’s superior functions at a lower price. Furthermore, considering how it could even be used by people who have no special knowledge about IT, we found the TeraStation’s interface easy to understand, making it easy for our customers to use. The fact that customers became accustomed to it so easily was a major advantage.
Features of the Service
Comprehensive Maintenance System Frees Customers from Troublesome Tasks
Mr. Fushimi also mentions how important the maintenance system offered by BUFFALO is in realizing this service. The TeraStation Remote Backup Service requires installation and operation of equipment at the client company’s location. If some unexpected problem occurs with this equipment, how is it handled? How can total support, from installation to fixing problems to maintenance, be provided for customers in every part of the country? Unless these issues are resolved, there is no way to provide meaningful services that satisfy the customers. BUFFALO proposed a total backup service to Kagoya Japan using BUFFALO IT Solutions, a BUFFALO affiliate company that provides inspection,
installation, configuration, and maintenance support for IT devices. BUFFALO IT Solutions installs and makes the initial settings for the stand-alone TeraStation at the customer’s location and runs tests of data transmission and reception between the customer and the data center. If any failure occurs after the system has been set up, the maintenance system is available 365 days a year, using instructions provided by Kagoya Japan. This completely removed Kagoya Japan’s doubts about the proposal. Says Mr. Fushimi, “Maintenance was the most critical
matter for Kagoya Japan and for this new service.”
In establishing this maintenance system, BUFFALO IT Solutions says they focused on creating a system that would ensure operation without mistakes in order to satisfy the customer. They successfully created a maintenance system that is simple to implement, taking advantage of the TeraStation Remote Backup Sen/ice’s biggest strength: the customer can use it with peace of mind. The TeraStation Remote Backup Service is an integrated service that conducts backups completely automatically, with no burden placed on the customer, from installation, to operation and maintenance.
Future Development
In Addition to Backups, Further Development Offering Specialized Functions to Meet Customers’ Needs
Even if a major disaster strikes, the TeraStation Remote Backup Service stores backup files at Kagoya Japan’s data center, located on high
ground in an earthquake-resistant, seismically isolated structure. This allows companies to safely keep the data that is essential to operation of the business. Even in the event of a failure, Kagoya Japan’s services extend to restoration of the data, with no burden placed on the customer. With specific backups, data can be backed up automatically every day, week, or month, or according to a specified schedule starting at a specified time, with data being transferred from the customer to Kagoya Japan’s data center. The data sent to the data center is automatically encrypted before transmission, so there are no worries about data being divulged in transit or other types of data leakage.
Kagoya Japan has already received many inquiries about the TeraStation Remote Backup Service since the service was announced. Inquiries have come not only from the small and medium-sized enterprises that Kagoya Japan initially expected to be the core of their customer base, but thanks to the attraction of abundant storage capacity and great cost performance, they are also fielding questions about large-scale use of the service. Regarding future development, Fushimi says, “At this point, we haven’t even made full use of the TeraStation’s abundant functions. We might expand further in various ways in response to our customers‘ requirements, and that is one thing that makes the TeraStation attractive. Fully utilizing the TeraStation’s functions, we will go on to offer services even more precisely tailored to our customers‘ needs. The TeraStation Remote Backup Service will continue to evolve rapidly, for example featuring even greater storage capacity and more robust security. We can expect services integrating these three companies—Kagoya Japan, BUFFALO, and BUFFALO IT So|utions—to expend even more.
Kagoya Japan Inc.
With its own data center established in Keihanna Science City, the company now operates its Internet-based data center while developing hosting and Internet connection services.
Head Offices : Karasuma Building 8F,85-1 Mikura-cho, Karasuma Nishi-iruSanjo-dori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8166
TEL : 075-252-9355
URL : http://www.kagoya.coml http:/lwww.kagoya.jp/
