StorageCraft Introduces Windows/Linux Cross-Platform Backup And Recovery
StorageCraft released the cross-platform version of ShadowProtect SPX, which enables management of backup and recovery of Windows and Linux systems and physical and virtual environments from a single platform.
Matt Urmston, director of product development for StorageCraft, says partner feedback was a major driving force to develop backup for the Linux side of customers’ environments. MSPs (managed services providers) that work with larger companies often found those clients had hybrid environments. “Partners were leaving potential deals on the table. Those companies want a single partner with a cross-platform solution,” Urmston explains.
He comments that StorageCraft, too, was losing potential MSP partners because the company didn’t offer a cross-platform solution.
The company developed ShadowProtect SPX, which performs sector-level backup of Windows and Linux systems and enables recovery within minutes to the original hardware, to new hardware, or to a virtual machine hosted on the same or a different hypervisor. StorageCraft’s Volume Shadow Copy Service ensures solid backups and a proprietary kernel-level snapshot driver for Windows systems.
For Linux systems, StorageCraft built a new kernel-level snapshot driver. Brian Wistisen, director of product marketing for StorageCraft, says, his company looked at snapshot drivers that were available for Linux, but “we didn’t feel they met our standards of high quality.” He says StorageCraft chose to invest in building a driver from the ground up: “We built it with our high standards in mind, so backup for Linux will be as reliable as our backup for Windows has been for years.”
Urmston points out ShadowProtect SPX has several new features that will be of interest to partners. The new user interface (UI) not only allows partners to manage Windows and Linux systems from the same window, it is redesigned to enable partners to setup and manage backups with fewer clicks.
The UI also features the patented Job Timeline that provides a graphical view of changes, warnings, and issues. Urmston says, “You can see the view over time and look for patterns, like backup failures at the same time on the same day of the week. It can help from a troubleshooting standpoint.”
Along with the release of ShadowProtect SPX, StorageCraft released ShadowControl 3.0 that facilitates monitoring and management of every ShadowProtect, SPX and StorageCraft ImageManager endpoint in the system’s environment through a single, Web-based console.
For more information on ShadowProtect SPX and other StorageCraft products, visit www.StorageCraft.com/SPX.