Active@ Disk Image vs NetApp Snapshot comparison

Active@ Disk Image is a reliable backup and disk cloning solution designed to meet the data protection needs of IT professionals and businesses. It ensures data integrity with robust features suitable for knowledgeable users aiming to secure and restore critical information efficiently.

Active@ Disk Image provides a comprehensive set of tools for backing up, restoring, and cloning drives. It is valued for its ability to perform complete disk imaging, enabling users to create exact copies of entire drives or specific partitions. This functionality is critical for disaster recovery and system migration tasks. Its user-friendly interface allows for easy navigation and operation, appealing to both experienced and novice users. Despite its strengths, some users suggest improvement in its speed and enhanced compatibility with a wider range of storage devices.

• Disk Imaging: Create exact copies of entire drives or partitions for backup and recovery purposes.
• Incremental Backups: Save disk space by only capturing changes since the last backup.
• Scheduling: Automate backups with a flexible scheduling system to ensure regular data protection.
• Bootable Media: Create bootable recovery media for system restoration in case of failure.
• Compression & Encryption: Protect data with compression techniques and secure encryption protocols.

• Data Integrity: Reliable recovery options help maintain data accuracy and availability.
• Cost Efficiency: Reduce downtime and potential data loss with efficient backup processes.
• Scalability: Adapt to expanding data protection needs without compromising performance.
• User-Friendly: Simplified tools increase operation ease, reducing the learning curve for new users.
• Versatile Backup Options: Flexibility to choose between full, differential, or incremental backups.

Industries utilizing Active@ Disk Image span IT services, healthcare, and finance, where data protection and system uptime are crucial. In healthcare, for instance, ensuring patient data integrity is paramount, making Active@ Disk Image a trustworthy tool for backups. Finance sectors value its secure encryption for safeguarding sensitive investment information. Tailoring features to specific industry needs can drive further adoption.

NetApp Snapshot is a data replication software that works through snapshot copies, crucial for the recovery of data. These copies are used as safe points for rollback before upgrades or patches. NetApp Snapshot provides prompt data replication which is also highly space-efficient, and provides users with the full management and control of their data and its copies. Through the various solutions the Snapshot technology has introduced, companies receive enhanced stability, functionality, and performance, as well as storage efficiency.

NetApp Snapshot uses two types of snapshot technologies to handle data replication: Copy on Write (COW) and Redirect on Write (ROW). The COW technologies make a copy of the original information and then only after the replication process is completed does the system overwrite the modified data into the original blocks. In contrast, ROW redirects the snapshots to new storage blocks, updating pointers to those blocks, which always point to the original location. When NetApp Snapshot combines the two technologies, it allows customers to save storage efficiency by way of deduplication and compression.

NetApp Snapshot Features

NetApp Snapshot’s valuable features include:

• Data replication stability: Every NetApp Snapshot copy is an immutable, static copy, giving organizations the opportunity to create consistent backups from their storage system while applications are running.
  
  
• Performance impact: The performance of NetApp's systems that store NetApp Snapshot aren’t affected. The actions of creating or deleting a Snapshot copy also don't greatly impact the performance of the systems where they are located. NetApp’s storage can be used for data replication, backup, and archival even if a company is using another storage system.
  
  
• Storage scale: Another beneficial feature of NetApp is the volume of storage, which supports 255 Snapshot copies. This provides users with the opportunity to perform frequent data replication, thus creating current versions of their data.
  
  
• File recovery: The above-mentioned features allow for the creation of backup for recovery purposes. They also provide\ the opportunity to copy backups to offline storage as well as to create an archive for them.
  
  
• Storage utilization: The option for utilization of storage allows NetApp Snapshot users to benefit from storage volumes similar to those of active file systems. The software works through block increment, which limits the interval of time between added blocks of Snapshot copies, thus creating more efficient storage.

NetApp Snapshot Benefits

The benefits of using NetApp Snapshot include:

• Ability to create instant data replication while applications run
• Up to 255 data replicas available
• Various tools for full-package coverage, including SnapManager, SnapProtect, SnapMirror, SnapRestore, and SnapVault

Reviews from Real Users

Gregg N., Manager of Data Center Services at TTi Power Equipment, states that the primary use of NetApp Snapshot by his organization is as a data-protection solution in the cloud and in the data center. He points out that this data duplication software is very user-friendly, extremely stable, and scalable.

Edgar M., Sr. Data Protection Engineer at DataPivot Technologies, uses NetApp Snapshot for its monitoring or clone capabilities, and he agrees that the solution is very stable.

According to George A., CEO at BDPR Technologies Limited, the most valuable features of NetApp Snapshot are the integration with other vendors and customization.