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Data protection initiatives may fall flat without these three key attributes

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3 years ago

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Data protection

Benchmarks show Huawei’s OceanProtect surpasses peer

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, November 22, 2022/APO Group/ — 

As modern enterprises hail data as the lifeblood of their business, comprehensive data protection has become paramount. Indeed, the accelerated pace of digital transformation in recent years has made data a fundamental and strategic business resource as well as a key production factor.

Already, data is being generated, consumed and stored at an unprecedented pace. According to IDC, global data creation and replication is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 23 percent from 2020 to 2025. In 2020, 64.2 ZB of data were created or replicated. The research firm reckons that the amount of digital data created over the next five years will be greater than twice the amount of data created since the advent of digital storage.

The data deluge is prompting prudent companies to refocus IT budgets on protecting data, especially their most critical business asset – production data.

Efficiency, performance, reliability

The cost of data protection aside, the major challenge for IT is to mitigate the risk of a devastating data loss in the face of mounting ransomware attacks and data breaches.

Further, the rapid development cycles of modern cloud-native application environments and evolving data-intensive applications – such as artificial intelligence, automation, Internet of Things and video surveillance – have increased the required levels of protection, performance and scale dramatically.

Such demands overwhelm the capabilities of traditional backup tools. In this exacting IT landscape, enterprises need data protection solutions that bear three critical attributes: highly efficient data reduction rates, fast backup and recovery performance, and highly reliable and available data copies

Data reduction efficiency enables enterprises to store and transfer large amounts of backup data expeditiously so they can optimize investments in storage hardware, increase effective capacity and reduce total cost of ownership.

Fast backup and recovery performance enables businesses to minimize operational downtime or disruption, especially in the aftermath of a ransomware attack. Underpinning these is reliability. Having a good, clean backup to recover from lays the foundation for an effective data protection strategy.

Geared to deliver these benefits, the Huawei OceanProtect data protection solution adopts a unified approach – protecting exabytes of structured and unstructured data generated by databases, file systems and VMware virtual machines (VMs) – that ensures zero service disruption, zero data loss, and long-term information retention.

Huawei OceanProtect outperforms peer

A recent report (https://bit.ly/3i0CJzG) jointly published by Evaluator Group presented results of comprehensive benchmarking tests that compare the Huawei OceanProtect (https://bit.ly/3ERCIqI) data protection system with a peer product, the Dell EMC PowerProtect DD, based on the three attributes mentioned above.

The test environment was configured for function and performance verification. Network connectivity and hosts had the same configurations. Each data protection system was connected to seven servers through IP switches. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 x86_64 operating system was deployed on four of the servers for performance tests.

VMware virtualization applications and Oracle database applications were deployed on two servers to compare and verify data reduction ratios in different scenarios. The other server was used as the media server for the backup application Veritas NetBackup (NBU).

Rapid backup and recovery

To test backup and recovery speed, the primary tool utilized was vdbench in file mode. The aim is to accurately perform file operations while ensuring high I/O rates to files as desired. The choice of tool removes potential bottlenecks from the backup application as well as any bias for or against any third-party backup application.

The Huawei OceanProtect and Dell EMC PowerProtect systems each included a storage pool created with a 1 PB filesystem. The filesystem was then NFS mounted to eight mount points on each of the four machines running the workloads. High performance optimizations were set for both test systems.

Test results show that Huawei OceanProtect’s Oracle backup performance of 6,853 MB/s was 2.6 times faster than the 2,621 MB/s clocked by the peer product from Dell EMC. In the VM backup performance test, OceanProtect’s speed of 8,004 MB/s was 2.4 times faster than the peer product’s 3,383 MB/s.

The research firm reckons that the amount of digital data created over the next five years will be greater than twice the amount of data created since the advent of digital storage

Next, the write performance of both systems was measured by simulating the first full backup of general applications. Here, Huawei OceanProtect’s 10,591 MB/s was 2.3 times faster than the peer product’s 4.640 MB/s.

Overall, Huawei OceanProtect delivered more than two times faster backup data rates than its leading competitor. The test results bolster Huawei OceanProtect’s status as a solution that creates opportunities for improved system utilization, cost savings and management efficiency.

After the backup simulations, the read bandwidth recovery performance of both systems was simulated and tested. The application restore performance comparison showed that Huawei OceanProtect’s read bandwidth after the first backup is 1.5 times that for the Dell EMC system.

Since the recovery test was performed after the first backup, the read bandwidth of systems like Dell EMC’s, which use rotating media (i.e. hard disk drive), will decline as additional backups are created and backup data become scattered. In contrast, this has little impact on the all-flash OceanProtect system so its recovery speed advantage over those systems would increase with additional backups.

Efficient data reduction

The NBU application was used to verify the data reduction ratios of both products in daily full backups of Oracle database and VM data.

The Oracle database to be backed up was activated with the NBU client installed and user authentication on the NBU client and Oracle database completed. From the management pages of both systems, Evaluator Group observed that the data reduction ratio of Huawei OceanProtect for daily full backup of the Oracle database was 43.4, higher than the 28.1 for the Dell EMC product.

The Linux VM to be backed up was prepared on each solution’s VMware ESXi server. Again, the Huawei OceanProtect’s data reduction ratio of 29.3 for daily full backup of VM data was higher than the peer product’s ratio of 19.7.

By achieving approximately 50 percent greater reduction ratios for various data, Huawei OceanProtect has an effective capacity of nearly 50 percent greater than Dell EMC PowerProtect when configured with the same raw capacity.

OceanProtect’s high data reduction ratios is an endorsement of its efficient usage of data storage infrastructure. Using advanced algorithms and byte-level compaction technologies, OceanProtect breaks data into chunks based on the source and other data characteristics before it deduplicates, compresses and compacts the data further.

High reliability

The Evaluator Group also observed how the simultaneous failure of any three disks in a storage pool affects backup services on both backup storage systems.

The analysts installed and configured the file backup client, prepared the test data, and recorded the Message-Digest algorithm 5 (MD5) value of the test data. They created a 1 TB NFS file share in a storage pool on the Huawei OceanProtect system and a 1 TB Mtree NFS file share in a storage pool on the Dell EMC system. Strikingly, OceanProtect supports RAID triple-parity (RAID-TP) but the peer product does not.

The file shares were mapped to the backup server as a backup storage repository. The analysts then ran a full backup of the files on the two systems. Data from this completed backup was then restored. The success of the recovery was verified by calculating the MD5 value of the restored file and using it to check the integrity of the restored data.

Meanwhile, the full backup job was run on the common file again. When this job was initiated, three disks were removed from the storage pool. Then, the status and alarms of the affected storage pool as well as the running status of the backup task were checked.

Consequently, the backup services of Huawei OceanProtect remained normal and showed no loss of access to data, but the backup services of the peer product from Dell EMC reported errors. Equipped with dual-controller active-active architecture, RAID-TP and ransomware prevention technologies, Huawei OceanProtect is well positioned to deliver 99.9999 percent availability, as can be shown by real-life examples beyond the lab.

Conclusion

The Evaluator Group’s test results evidently show that the Huawei OceanProtect outperforms the peer product in all three critical aspects: data reduction ratio, backup and recovery speed, and reliability.

Significantly, Huawei OceanProtect’s superior capabilities translate to shorter backup windows and data recovery times, reduced expenditure, and higher levels of uptime. They also affirm OceanProtect’s trustworthiness as an intelligent all-flash backup storage designed to address enterprises’ data protection pain points in a dynamic, data-intensive digital economy.

To know more about Huawei OceanProtect, please click here (https://bit.ly/3OtHihX).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Huawei Enterprise.

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Nigeria’s Upstream Reform Program Captures 40% of Africa’s Final Investment Decision (FID) Activity After a Decade on the Margins

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2 days ago

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May 8, 2026

By

African Energy Chamber

A government three-year review documents how executive action under President Tinubu reversed a decade of upstream decline

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 8, 2026/APO Group/ –Nigeria has gone from capturing 4% of Africa’s upstream final investment decisions (FIDs) to commanding 40% in two years, according to Nigeria’s Energy Sector Reforms 2023-2026: A Three-Year Review, published by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy and spearheaded by Special Adviser Olu Verheijen. The $50 billion project pipeline now in development beyond 2026 points to sustained capital commitment at a scale not seen in the Nigerian upstream for at least a decade.

 

Between 2014 and 2023, Nigeria was among the continent’s weakest performers for upstream FIDs despite holding 37.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the second-largest endowment in Africa. Algeria captured 44% of African upstream FIDs during that period, Angola held 26%, while Nigeria trailed Mozambique, Ghana, Senegal and Namibia. In the third quarter of 2022, crude production briefly dropped below one million barrels per day, as years of underinvestment, pipeline vandalism and regulatory ambiguity compounded each other. However, reforms instituted by Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu have dramatically turned this trend around. Through deliberate and coordinated steps, the government has reset the trajectory.

Addressing Fiscal Terms, Regulatory Scope and Contracting Speed

President Bola Tinubu’s administration moved simultaneously on fiscal terms and regulatory architecture. Policy directives in 2023 clarified the boundary of jurisdiction between the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), resolving an ambiguity that had complicated project sanctioning. Presidential Directive 40 introduced targeted tax incentives, and a separate Notice of Tax Incentives for Deep Offshore Production in 2024 was designed to draw international oil companies (IOCs) back into capital-intensive, long-cycle deepwater projects. The VAT Modification Order 2024 and Upstream Cost Efficiency Order 2025 addressed the cost structures that had rendered marginal projects uneconomic. NNPCL contracting timelines were compressed from 36 months to a maximum of six months.

Four Divestments Transferred Onshore Control to Indigenous Operators

In parallel, the administration deployed targeted security directives and accelerated ministerial consents for four IOC asset transfers. Renaissance acquired Shell’s onshore portfolio. Seplat Energy completed its acquisition of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian upstream interests. Oando took over from Agip, and Chappal acquired Equinor’s local assets. The four transactions totaled approximately $4 billion. The transfer of onshore and shallow-water blocks to indigenous operators contributed directly to production recovery. Output rose by approximately 400,000 barrels per day between 2023 and 2025 to reach 1.6 million barrels per day, the highest onshore production level in 20 years.

When a government rebuilds fiscal competitiveness and regulatory predictability at the same time, capital responds

Signed Projects Total $10 Billion, With a $50 Billion Pipeline Beyond

The reforms produced a concrete FID response from Shell and TotalEnergies. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) sanctioned the $5 billion Bonga North deepwater development in December 2024 and committed a further $2 billion to the HI Non-Associated Gas (NAG) project. TotalEnergies and NNPCL took a joint FID on the $550 million Ubeta gas field development in June 2024.

Together those three commitments account for more than $10 billion in signed investment after a decade of near-zero sanctioning activity. The pipeline beyond 2026 spans a further $50 billion across 11 projects including Bonga South West, Owowo, Usan and Erha. Nigeria approved 28 field development plans valued at $18.2 billion in 2025 alone, targeting an estimated 1.4 billion barrels of reserves.

“When a government rebuilds fiscal competitiveness and regulatory predictability at the same time, capital responds,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “Nigeria has done both, and the FID numbers are concrete proof.”

The Counterfactual Illustrates How Much Was at Stake

The presentation includes a no-reform projection that puts the gains in context. Without intervention, total crude and condensate production was on track to fall from 1.371 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2022 to 579,000 by 2030. Under the reform trajectory, output reached 1.77 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2026, with a stated government target of 3 million barrels per day. Export gas utilization rose 39% over the same period, while domestic utilization grew by 7%.

The durability of these gains will be tested by two factors: whether the institutional architecture put in place under the Tinubu administration holds over the long term, and whether the deepwater commitments signed in 2024 and 2025 advance to execution on schedule. The project pipeline is large enough that partial delivery would still represent a generational shift in Nigeria’s upstream output profile.

 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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Angola Strengthens Global Investment Drive Across Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources

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2 days ago

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May 8, 2026

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Angola

With sweeping reforms across the extractive sector, Angola is entering a new phase defined by transparency, regulatory modernisation, value addition, and international partnership

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 8, 2026/APO Group/ –At a defining moment in Angola’s economic transformation, the Critical Minerals Africa Group (CMAG) (https://CMAGAfrica.com), together with the Government of Angola and the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas of the Republic of Angola (MIREMPET), will convene global investors, policymakers, and industry leaders in London for the Angola Oil, Gas & Mining Investment Conference on 14 May 2026.

 

More than a conference, this gathering represents a strategic international engagement at a time when Angola is actively reshaping its economic future and positioning itself as one of Africa’s most compelling destinations for long-term investment in natural resources, infrastructure, and industrial development.

With sweeping reforms across the extractive sector, Angola is entering a new phase defined by transparency, regulatory modernisation, value addition, and international partnership. The country’s leadership is sending a clear message to global markets: Angola is open for investment and ready to build transformational partnerships that support sustainable growth and economic diversification.

This is not simply about resource development, it is about building long-term industrial growth, strengthening energy and mineral supply chains, and shaping Angola’s future

The event will be headlined by H.E. Diamantino Azevedo, Minister for Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas of Angola, whose leadership since 2017 has been central to advancing Angola’s mineral and hydrocarbons agenda. Under his stewardship, Angola has accelerated institutional reform, strengthened governance frameworks, promoted private sector participation, and prioritised sustainable resource development.

As global demand intensifies for critical minerals, energy security, and resilient supply chains, Angola is uniquely positioned to become a strategic partner to international investors and industrial economies. The country’s vast untapped mineral wealth, significant oil and gas reserves, expanding infrastructure ambitions, and commitment to economic diversification present a rare investment window for global stakeholders.

Speaking ahead of the event, Veronica Bolton Smith, CEO of the Critical Minerals Africa Group said:

“Angola stands at a pivotal point in its national development. The reforms taking place across the country’s extractive sectors are creating unprecedented opportunities for responsible international investment and strategic partnership. This is not simply about resource development, it is about building long-term industrial growth, strengthening energy and mineral supply chains, and shaping Angola’s future as a globally competitive investment destination. We believe this moment represents one of the most important opportunities for international partners to engage with Angola’s leadership and participate in the country’s next chapter of economic transformation.”

The event is expected to attract a distinguished international audience, including sovereign representatives, institutional investors, mining and energy executives, infrastructure developers, development finance institutions, and strategic partners seeking direct engagement with Angola’s leadership.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Critical Minerals Africa Group (CMAG).

 

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The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Successfully Concludes Private Sector Roadshow in Baku

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2 days ago

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May 8, 2026

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Islamic Development Bank

Bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders, the Forum showcased IsDB Group services, activities, and initiatives across its 57 member countries, with particular emphasis on Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 7, 2026/APO Group/ –The Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) affiliates (www.IsDB.org) – namely the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) – in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank Group Business Forum (THIQAH), organized the “IsDB Group Private Sector Roadshow” in Baku, Azerbaijan, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Export and Investment Promotion Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AZPROMO).

 

The high-profile event which took place on Thursday, 7th May 2026, at Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Economy, came as part of ongoing preparations for the upcoming IsDB Group Annual Meetings and Private Sector Forum (PSF 2026), scheduled to take place from 16 to 19 June 2026, under the high patronage of His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

 

Bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders, the Forum showcased IsDB Group services, activities, and initiatives across its 57 member countries, with particular emphasis on Azerbaijan. It highlighted the Group’s ongoing support for private sector development and its efforts to stimulate promising investment and trade opportunities in the Azerbaijani market.

 

The event also served as a unique opportunity inviting the audience to participate actively in IsDB Group Annual Meetings and the Private Sector Forum (PSF 2026). The program included panel discussions and specialized workshops on ways to enhance economic partnerships and the role of IsDB Group’s institutions in supporting the needs of member countries. The spectra of services, solutions and financial tools were also presented, including lines and modes of Islamic financing, trade finance and trade development solutions, corporate private sector financing, as well as risk mitigation solutions plus investment insurance and export credit insurance services.

 

Keynote speakers, in their speeches, underlined strong commitment to deepening engagement with the private sector and fostering meaningful partnerships that drive sustainable economic growth in light of the upcoming IsDB Group Annual Meetings in Baku, all to showcase integrated solutions especially in Islamic finance, trade, investment, and risk mitigation while working closely and collectively with private sector partners to unlock new opportunities, support innovation, and empower businesses contributing to inclusive and resilient development across IsDB Group member countries.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB Group).

 

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