Data Backup Digest

Zerto, an IT firm that specializes in hypervisor-based replication services for VMWare vSphere virtual machines, has recently announced the expansion of their Virtual Replication software suite. While Zerto's services have already been used for years to facilitate data replication and disaster recovery within virtual environments, the newest update adds increased functionality as well as a number of internal process improvements that are sure to create a product that is more versatile, comprehensive and user-friendly than ever before.

Zerto Virtual Replication 3.5

Version 3.5, which was released in June 2014, adds a dedicated Zerto Backup Appliance into the package as well as newly developed features for their Virtual Manager and Virtual Replication appliances. In the end, this prompts quicker data recovery times as well as a reduction in recovery point objectives. Moreover, the Zerto Backup Appliance is expected to make a transition to a standalone virtual appliance in the near future.

However, as Shannon Snowden, senior technical marketing architect of Zerto, explained, they don't want to be considered as a simple data backup company. She was quoted as saying: "We're keeping it very simple. No grandfather, no father, no child, none of that. We're not trying to be a backup product - we're trying to augment what we do. We offer a different way to protect data."

Gil Levonai, vice president of products and marketing with Zerto, spoke about the need for Zerto Virtual Replication 3.5. He described the software in the initial press release as: "A comprehensive DR and backup solution is particularly valuable to companies who have long-term retention requirements because it eliminates the need to purchase a separate backup product. Furthermore, Zerto Virtual Replication 3.5 can be used with any cloud - private, public or hybrid - allowing organizations to choose the IT environment that best suits their needs and without disturbing existing production environments."

Justin Giardina, chief technology officer of iland, is a long-time customer of Zerto. As one of the industry's leading cloud computing providers, iland has provided backup, replication and disaster recovery services to a number of key clients.

Giardina explained how iland's customers can benefit from Zerto Virtual Replication 3.5. He was quoted as saying: "iland customers using disaster recovery solutions powered by Zerto Virtual Replication can easily replicate from a VMware vSphere environment to iland's VMware vCloud infrastructure without making any changes to their environments. Executing customers' backup operations at the replication site reduces the overhead on ESXi hosts and virtual machines and also allows for both replication and backup to our cloud, which brings additional cost savings to our customers."

Additional Features

Apart from the major changes, there are a variety of additional features that have been implemented into Zerto Virtual Replication 3.5. This includes improvements to alert handling and resolution, streamlined management functionality and a strong set of APIs meant to enhance automation. While Zerto Virtual Replication 3.5 enjoyed a long development and private beta phase, the update has now been rolled out for public consumption and is currently used in to support enterprise cloud architecture around the globe.