Idealstor Backs up Virtual Machines

August 22, 2008: With data storage levels and the popularity of virtualisation growing rapidly, Idealstor says that it can ease VMware backups with its new removable disk to disk solution.

The company has announced new interoperability between its removable disk backup appliances and VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB). It says that when used together, companies can easily and affordably backup virtual servers by sending VCB backups straight to Idealstor’s removable SATA disk technology, which can then be used in place of tape for backup and offsite storage.

VCB solves one of the biggest hurdles that backup administrators face when implementing a VMware virtual environment by providing a built in utility that quickly backs up virtual servers without using up system resources, or having to purchase expensive backup agents to backup each virtual machine.

However, a dedicated Windows 2003 proxy server or backup server is still required to run VCB in addition to some form of removable backup media to provide offsite storage. Idealstor says that this poses a problem for backup administrators because this adds two additional components – 2003 Server and backup system - to what can be an already costly and complex VMware installation.

It claims that its solution gets around this hurdle as it comes pre-configured with Windows 2003 Server, and VCB can be installed directly onto the appliance. Backup jobs can then be sent straight to the Idealstor removable SATA drives, which can then be used for local storage or removed for offsite backup like a tape.

“We provide the best of disk and tape by using SATA disks as ejectable backup media for offsite storage”, said Ben Ginster, channel marketing manager at Idealstor. “We have many clients that are using VMware and nearly all of them were confused as to the best way to backup their virtual servers.

“VCB is a great tool but having to add another 2003 Server and backup solution into the mix made implementing VMware even more costly and complex. Now that we have certified and are supporting VCB our existing clients and future customers can be assured that Idealstor will work in their VMware environment and using our Backup Appliances as their proxy server and offsite backup solution will enable them to save them both money and time when setting up VMware.”

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