Bank Deposits Faith In Scalar Solution

South Korean Bank Invests in Scalar Tape Library to Protect Financial Data

When Busan Bank moved to a next-generation UNIX system for primary storage in 2012, the technology team knew it was time to find the best backup solution for archive, disaster recovery, and data retention. Busan turned to Quantum’s Scalar i6000 enterprise tape library. The result: Daily backup time cut in half and backup performance improved by up to 130 percent.  

Key Challenge: Reliable Retention

Busan Bank has been serving customers in South Korea since 1967. Over the past four decades, the bank has expanded in many ways: more customers, more services, and more territory. Today it offers a full range of corporate and retail banking services through almost 250 branches in South Korea, an overseas branch in China, and its online presence.

In 2012, Busan Bank recognized that its aging mainframe—built in 1997—was no longer adequate for its needs, limiting how it provided services to customers. The bank implemented a next-generation UNIX system for its primary storage needs, but the bank’s Systems Operation team knew more needed to be done to address data protection and storage.

“System reliability, recoverability, scalability, and technical support were our top priorities as we began to look for a better backup solution,” says Sang-mu Shim, the Vice Director of the Systems Operation team for Busan Bank. “The solution would need to meet customers’ needs for financial services, actively respond to financial market volatility, and address regulatory changes.”

The Systems Operation team was particularly interested in a tape backup system for its long-term storage capability and stable operation.

After examining a number of options, Busan Bank’s Systems Operation team decided on the Quantum Scalar i6000 automated tape library. Scalable up to 12,006 slots, the library offered the bank a solution that could keep pace with its growth.

In addition, the Extended Data Life Management (EDLM) capability built into the Scalar i6000 automatically checks tape media cartridges for data integrity issues, which helps prevent data errors before they happen. The Systems Operation team also appreciated the library’s iLayer™ software, which automates administrative tasks, including monitoring and reporting media, drive,
and security status.

Benefits: 130% Improvement

Today, Busan Bank is meeting the challenge of data protection with its Scalar i6000 tape library. Backing up 40TB/day and 300TB/week, the Scalar i6000 has improved backup performance by up to 130 percent, meaning that the backup window has been reduced by more than half.

In addition, the system draws much less electricity than previously used for backup and, with its storage capacity, allows retention of more data without taking up more space in the data center.

“Quantum Scalar i6000 provides high performance, reliability, scalability, and ease of management,” says Sang-mu Shim. “Most of all, by building a state-of-the-art backup system, we finally have completed a flexible and reliable IT infrastructure that allows us to provide financial services continuously, even in the case of a disaster or emergency. We are very satisfied with the Scalar i6000!”