Case Study | Heartland Technology Solutions

Fast-growing IT services provider implements

effective backup and restore solution for
businesses hit by catastrophe to maintain
data integrity through any kind of disaster.
Customer
Heartland Technology Solutions

Industry
IT Services

Products
TeraStation WSS Windows Storage Server
StorageCraft ShadowProtect
StorageCraft ImageManager

Goals
To implement an affordable and
efficient disaster recovery solution.
Identify flexible and effective method of
providing maximum data protection.
Economically upgrade clients hardware
with capacity and scalability as key
considerations.

Solution
TeraStation WSS Windows Storage Server
used with StorageCraft ShadowProtect

Results
Heartland Technology Solutions now has
an effective and comprehensive solution
for preserving the integrity of clients data.
Reliable storage hardware
Seamless Windows integration
Quick and ecient installation
Quick restoration in the event of a
disaster
Minimized downtime

Heartland Technology Solutions has been taking care of business in the

nations Midwest for more than 26 years. As one of the nations fastestgrowing managed service providers specializing in solutions for small to
mid-sized businesses and K-12 educational institutions, the company sprung
into action in May 2011 to help companies get back on their feet after an EF5
tornado devastated more than 500 businesses in Joplin, Missouri.

The Challenge
This natural disaster dramatically illustrated the effects of catastrophic data
loss and the need for effective backup and disaster recovery strategies.
Studies have estimated that nearly half of the small to midsized businesses
which suffer catastrophic data loss stand to go out of business within five
years. But even the loss of a single file can interrupt business processes and
result in costly downtime. Heartland engages in ongoing efforts to identify
and implement better and more effective ways to ensure data integrity
through any kind of disaster.
Later in 2011, Heartland embarked on what became a year-and-a-half
evaluation of hardware and software to identify more flexible and effective
ways of providing maximum protection for its clients dataand its own. The
dedicated backup and recovery system that Heartland had been using had
begun to show its ageand its limitations. Cost, capacity and scalability were
key considerations; upgrades to the old system required the purchase of an
entirely new hardware.

Action Taken
Heartland opted for a combined solution, choosing Bualo Americas for
hardware and StorageCraft Technology Corporation for software. Heartland selected Buffalos TeraStation WSS NAS Appliance and StorageCrafts
ShadowProtect and ImageManager as its backup and disaster recovery
software. Because the TeraStation WSS runs Microsoft Windows Storage
Server, it proved to be an ideal platform for ShadowProtect and ImageManager, which are designed to run on Windows-based systems. The TeraStation
WSS uses industry-standard RAID 5 technology to provide the faulttolerance that is necessary for data back-up solutions.
Heartland was so impressed with the performance of the combined offering
that they not only began replacing backup-and-recovery systems at each
client site with the new solution, they implemented it as the backup solution
for their data center as well. Very quickly, it became central to Heartlands
solutions offering.

Case Study | Heartland Technology Solutions

Heartland serves a number of rural clients in tertiary markets where high-speed Internet connections are often unavailable,
and clients sometimes struggle to achieve even a 512 Kbps upstream connection. Using ShadowProtect, Heartland creates
an initial seed image and stores it on an external device, such as a USB hard drive. That device is shipped to Heartlands
data center to be replicated on the server.
By shipping the disk with the initial seed image, the client avoids having to upload gigabytes of data over its Internet
connection. The incremental backup can transfer at its own pace so the backup isnt throttled by their Internet connection.
It will run even if their Internet connection is down and can transfer the incremental updates when the connection is
restored.
The clients Windows-based servers, running applications such as Exchange or SQL, use StorageCraft ShadowProtect to
back up data to the TeraStation WSS that is located on-site. StorageCraft ImageManager, which runs on the TeraStation at
the client site, sends incremental changes to Heartlands data center in Papillon, Nebraska, to update the o-site image.
Heartland uses multiple TeraStation WSS units at their data center to store their clients ShadowProtect images.
ShadowProtect not only backs up data, it creates an image of the entire operating system and all applications, settings and
data les. Everything that is on the server is contained in the image. In a disaster recovery scenario, the image data can be
used to quickly restore an entire servereven to different hardware. The image can also be restored to a virtual machine to
minimize downtime. When clients want to recover, they dont have to go to a web portal and download a le; they can just
pick the files they need and restore them on the fly.
For their own use, Heartland reversed the process used for their clients. Since Heartlands data resides at its data center,
the backups are made from the data center to TeraStation WSS devices located in their offices.

Results
TeraStation WSS Windows Storage Server NAS appliance combined with StorageCraft ShadowProtect offers a cost effective and comprehensive solution for Heartlands clients, preserving the integrity of valuable data.
We were looking for something that would allow us to be more creative with our solutions. This combination offered a
flexible solution scalable to a variety of needs.
- Derek Kuhr
NOC Manager, Heartland Technology Solutions

The protected data is always accessible because it is continually backed up. In turn, the backup is archived o-site at the
data center, ensuring a prompt recovery if disaster strikes. It just works! said Kuhr.

Key Benets
Windows Storage Server platform ideal for StorageCraft software
Initial seed image offers quick installation with paced incremental backup to reduce throttling
On-site backup solution with with off-site imaging
Quick data restoration to a virtual machine for minimal downtime
Economical and comprehensive backup soltuion to ensure data integrity

11100 Metric Blvd. Ste. 750

Austin, TX 78758
1-800-688-7466
www.BuffaloAmericas.com
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