Tina Ifremer might sound like a new R&B artist, but it’s actually the name of Atempo’s backup software used by the French national institute for ocean science and technology for 23 years. That’s a long time in the tech world, especially since most organizations update their software every few years.
Ifremer, short for its full name, relies on this software to access records dating back nearly 25 years. The institute specializes in ocean studies and aims to promote sustainable practices in using marine resources. With 1,500 staff members, including scientists and technicians spread across five facilities in France and its territories, Ifremer also operates around 20 sites worldwide.
As a public sector entity, Ifremer gets most of its funding from the government but can also seek additional funding from other service requirements.
To maintain its operations, Ifremer partners with RIC, a third-party provider in northern France. RIC manages everything from infrastructure and network security to backup and high-performance computing on the Datarmor supercomputer, which models various oceanic conditions like temperature and salinity.
Back in 2002, Ifremer chose Atempo for data protection, covering everything from bare metal servers to databases. They protect about 400TB of data, centralizing backups at a site in Brest, France. This setup enables quick restores while also securing local data. Ifremer follows a 3-2-1 backup strategy and keeps off-site backups on tape using a Quantum DXI appliance to enhance performance and manage data reduction.
When it comes to purchasing criteria, Ifremer faced four main challenges:
1. Centralizing backups across multiple sites in a global IT environment.
2. Managing large data volumes from extensive research.
3. Dealing with millions of small files that slowed down performance.
4. Allowing researchers to perform self-service restores without IT help.
Béatrice le Berre, part of the Tina team, emphasizes the importance of protecting Ifremer’s intellectual heritage. “Data sovereignty is crucial for us. We support open science, but we must also safeguard against espionage and data theft.” Jérôme Le Letty, another team member, highlighted the value of being able to track historical data through Tina’s user interface, helping them recover files that might be mistakenly deleted.
Every remote site performs daily backups, either to tape or disk based on size, and weekly backups go to the central data center in Brest. “The solution works effectively,” says Le Berre. “Tina is compatible with all our platforms, even Linux servers.”
Looking ahead, Ifremer plans to integrate virtual server backups into Tina and create a digital replica of the oceans on the Datarmor supercomputer, which is currently being updated. They utilize a three-year renewable license for Tina, with no limits on stored data, and receive updates twice a year.