NetVault SmartDisk Alternatives

SmartDisk is going EOL

SmartDisk was first introduced by BakBone Software in 2008.

NetVault SmartDisk is scheduled to reach End of Life (EOL) at the end of 2025, meaning Quest will no longer provide updates, patches, or official support for the product beyond that date. Organizations currently using SmartDisk should begin planning their transition to alternative backup storage solutions to ensure continued support and compliance with data protection policies.

While SmartDisk remains fully functional until its EOL, customers are encouraged to evaluate other Quest-supported storage options or third-party solutions that integrate with NetVault Backup. Early planning will help minimize disruption and allow time to migrate data and workflows smoothly before support ends.

Common Use Cases

NetVault SmartDisk can be used as a high-performance staging area for backup data before it is moved to long-term storage, such as tape or cloud. In this role, SmartDisk temporarily stores backup files on disk, allowing for faster backup and restore operations compared to direct-to-tape workflows. When deduplication is disabled, it acts as a simple disk target, providing a reliable and efficient buffer that improves overall data protection performance without altering or compressing the backup data.

NetVault SmartDisk can be installed on the same server that runs NetVault Backup, providing a convenient and efficient all-in-one backup solution. This setup simplifies deployment and management by consolidating both the backup software and disk-based storage on a single system. It’s especially useful for small to medium-sized environments where hardware resources may be limited.

When used with deduplication enabled, SmartDisk maximizes storage efficiency by reducing redundant data across backup jobs. With a deduplication storage limit of 15 TB, it offers an effective solution for managing moderate data volumes while keeping storage costs under control. This integrated approach allows organizations to benefit from faster backups, quicker restores, and simplified maintenance—all without the need for additional infrastructure.

SmartDisk Alternatives

With NetVault SmartDisk reaching End of Life (EOL) at the end of 2025, organizations should consider alternative storage solutions that offer continued support and scalability. Here are three viable options:

1. Virtual Tape Library (VTL):
   A VTL emulates traditional tape storage but operates on disk-based systems, providing the speed and flexibility of disk with the compatibility of tape workflows. VTLs are ideal for organizations looking to maintain existing tape-based backup policies while improving performance and simplifying management. Many VTL solutions support compression and encryption and can integrate directly with NetVault Backup.
2. Object Storage Using MinIO:
   MinIO is a high-performance, S3-compatible object storage solution that can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud. When integrated with NetVault Backup, MinIO offers a cost-effective, scalable, and cloud-native alternative for storing backup data. It is especially useful for environments looking to adopt modern storage architectures or transition toward hybrid cloud models.
3. QoreStor:
   Quest QoreStor is a software-defined secondary storage platform that offers advanced deduplication, compression, encryption, and replication. As the recommended replacement for SmartDisk, QoreStor integrates seamlessly with NetVault Backup and supports a wide range of storage targets, including disk, cloud, and object storage. It provides enhanced performance, scalability beyond the 15 TB SmartDisk limit, and ongoing Quest support.

Each of these options offers different advantages, depending on your infrastructure, performance needs, and long-term data protection strategy.

Comparing the alternatives

Here’s a comparison of the three SmartDisk alternatives—VTL, MinIO (Object Storage), and QoreStor—based on ease of deployment, scalability, and cost:

Virtual Tape Library (VTL) (Built-in with NetVault)

Pros:

• Ease of Deployment: Very easy to enable and configure within NetVault; no additional software or licensing needed.
• Scalability: Moderate—suitable for most small to medium environments using disk as temporary backup storage.
• Cost: Very cost-effective; no additional license required.
• Use Case Fit:
   Best suited for staging area. Acts as a fast disk buffer before migrating data to tape or cloud.

Cons:

• Simulates tape behaviour, which may introduce latency for certain operations.
• Not ideal for long-term storage due to lack of advanced features like deduplication or tiering.

Object Storage with MinIO

Pros:

• Ease of Deployment: Lightweight and flexible; can be installed on any modern hardware or containerized environment.
• Scalability: Excellent; built for massive, distributed storage environments.
• Cost: Open-source and highly cost-effective; commercial support is optional.
• Use Case Fit:
   Ideal for long-term storage, including archiving, compliance, and hybrid cloud setups.

Cons:

• Requires technical expertise to configure and maintain.
• S3 integration must be properly tested with backup workflows.

QoreStor

Pros:

• Ease of Deployment: Seamlessly integrates with NetVault; provides deduplication, compression, encryption, and cloud tiering.
• Scalability: Very high - scales beyond 15 TB and supports cloud and object storage backends.
• Cost: Requires licensing but offers strong ROI over time due to space savings and performance.
• Use Case Fit:
   Great for both staging area and long-term storage. Offers flexibility to keep data locally for fast restores or replicate/tier to cloud.

Cons:

• Higher upfront cost and slightly more complex than VTL.
• Requires planning for deduplication sizing and retention policies.

Summary Table

QoreStor

QoreStor offers a rich set of advanced features that go well beyond what’s available with VTL and MinIO, making it a powerful, enterprise-grade backup storage solution. Here's a breakdown of the key additional features QoreStor provides compared to the more basic capabilities of VTL and MinIO:

1. Advanced Deduplication and Compression

• QoreStor: Uses content-aware, variable block deduplication and compression to significantly reduce storage needs—often achieving data reduction rates of 20:1 or better.
• VTL: No deduplication or compression.
• MinIO: Does not include built-in deduplication or compression features.

️ 2. Cloud Tiering and Replication

• QoreStor: Can automatically tier deduplicated data to cloud storage (AWS, Azure, Wasabi, etc.), enabling hybrid backup strategies. It also supports replication to another QoreStor instance for disaster recovery.
• VTL: No built-in cloud tiering or replication capabilities.
• MinIO: Offers S3 replication, but lacks integrated backup awareness or deduplication when replicating large datasets.

3. Data Encryption

• QoreStor: Supports encryption at rest and in transit, ensuring secure data protection across the backup lifecycle.
• VTL: Depends on the underlying disk storage for encryption, and lacks built-in encryption controls.
• MinIO: Supports TLS for in-transit encryption and server-side encryption, but requires manual configuration.

️ 4. Protocol and Platform Support

• QoreStor: Supports multiple backup protocols—OST, RDA, NFS, CIFS, iSCSI, and VTL emulation—allowing broad compatibility with various backup solutions and use cases.
• VTL: Limited to virtual tape protocol; only emulates tape libraries.
• MinIO: S3-compatible only; works well with cloud-native apps but needs middleware for many backup tools.

5. Centralized Management and Reporting

• QoreStor: Provides a dedicated web-based management console with dashboards, analytics, alerts, and usage reporting.
• VTL: Managed through NetVault only, with basic reporting.
• MinIO: Lacks built-in backup-specific monitoring and reporting; management is focused on object storage operations.

 6. Integration with Backup Applications

• QoreStor: Deeply integrated with NetVault Backup and other leading backup platforms like Veeam, Veritas, and Commvault.
• VTL: Native to NetVault but limited in compatibility with other systems.
• MinIO: Can be used with S3-compatible backup tools, but requires more setup and lacks tight integration with NetVault.

 Summary: What QoreStor Adds

In short, QoreStor is purpose-built for modern data protection—combining efficiency, flexibility, and enterprise features—making it a strong upgrade path from SmartDisk or more limited storage backends like VTL or MinIO.

Swap Program – SmartDisk to QoreStor

 SmartDisk to QoreStor License Swap Process

Quest Software offers a streamlined license swap program for customers moving from NetVault SmartDisk (which reaches end of life at the end of 2025) to QoreStor. This transition allows you to upgrade your backup storage capabilities with minimal disruption and cost.

 Key Benefit: 2:1 License Conversion

SmartDisk is licensed based on frontend capacity (i.e., the size of the original data being backed up), while QoreStor uses a backend capacity model (i.e., the actual amount of storage used after deduplication and compression).
As part of the transition:

 For every 2 TB of SmartDisk frontend license, you receive 1 TB of QoreStor backend license.

This 2:1 swap ratio reflects QoreStor’s powerful deduplication and compression capabilities, which significantly reduce backend storage requirements.