UltraBac Software Announces A First To Market Feature At VMworld 2008

UltraBac Software recently announced UBDR Gold's ability to create a VMware Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) file while capturing a live system snapshot backup. Creating a VMDK file (as an option) during a regular backup is a first in the industry. This greatly simplifies a disaster recovery by eliminating the conversion required by a typical physical-to-virtual (P2V) operation. This functionality is planned for general release in the fourth quarter of this year.

VMware users implementing this solution will minimize system downtime to a matter of minutes in the event that a disaster recovery operation is required. UBDR Gold creates a native VMDK file as a byproduct of a regular backup operation. To optimize this solution, an administrator need only create a "standby" virtual machine and then set it up to receive the VMDK backup file from the physical production server's daily backups. Additionally, if differential backups are enabled, they automatically integrate with the last full VMDK file. If a protected server fails, an operator then has two disaster recovery options: quickly recover the physical server using UBDR Gold's image-based disaster recovery capability, or recover it even faster virtually.

For a virtual recovery, an administrator would simply power up the virtual machine to restore the server, thus completing the always-ready-to-go P2V operation. With UBDR Gold, the only time it takes to perform a virtual disaster recovery is the amount of time required to enable the virtual machine created that contains the latest VMDK file backup. This new functionality inexpensively empowers VMware administrators to meet or surpass system uptime requirements by providing a directly mountable disaster recovery solution.

Before UBDR Gold, performing a P2V operation required a number of steps. This procedure typically began with a backup, or taking a snapshot of a live system, and writing it to a third party proprietary file format. Then the saved file(s) were converted to a .vmdk format using a conversion wizard. Some products also require a saved backup be restored first before any conversion could be started. UBDR Gold on the other hand, requires zero conversion and no additional time because it creates a .vmdk file as part of a regular backup, and can write it directly on to the virtual machine's disk. This functionality greatly streamlines P2V conversions while making them inherently more reliable and straightforward towards providing system protection. UBDR Gold's VMDK system recovery removes the additional steps an administrator would normally have to manage, in the event of a P2V system recovery, because a .vmdk file can be universally read as if it were a physical disk. As an added benefit, storing system backups on to virtual disks promotes green data center initiatives since multiple virtual disks can be placed on to one physical disk.

"We're proud to continue our track record of providing first to market backup and disaster recovery features for the virtual market space," said Morgan Edwards, CEO and founder of UltraBac Software. "As a Select Partner of VMware, we believe it is important to combine the functionalities of their products and ours, utilizing the great features of both, to provide customers with cost savings and effortless disaster recovery."

Availability
UBDR Gold v4.0, with support for VMware, including P2V, P2P, V2P, and V2V features, are shipping now. The new direct write to VMDK feature has a planned availability date of Q4 2008.

About UltraBac Software
UltraBac Software has earned a reputation for providing reliable, fast, and innovative backup and disaster recovery software to organizations of all sizes. Products include file-by-file and image-based disaster recovery solutions. UltraBac is the company's flagship product, providing file-by-file backups and restores with a wide range of options, and built-in flexible scheduling. Optional agents such as Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, Locked File, Oracle, Tivoli, and NetWare provide extended functionality to the base product. For bare metal recoveries, UBDR Pro and Gold are image-based backup and disaster recovery solutions that can literally restore a failed server in as little as six minutes. UBDR Gold also supports restoring to dissimilar hardware, and allows customers the ability to perform P2P, P2V, V2V, and V2P conversions and /or disaster recovery operations. Visit www.ultrabac.com for trial software or for more information.

SOURCE: UltraBac Software