Continuity Software, a provider of disaster recovery management (DRM) solutions, announced the release of its RecoverGuard version 3.0 software. RecoverGuard v3.0 offers customers an unrivaled solution for detecting and correcting disaster recovery (DR) threats and vulnerabilities in their EMC VMware virtualized environments. In addition, RecoverGuard v3.0 adds host configuration gap detection, enhanced integration with leading configuration management databases (CMDBs) and ticket management systems, as well as Oracle Data Guard and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) platform support.

EMC VMware virtualized environment support - RecoverGuard v3.0 offers customers the ability to easily map their entire VMware environment, including all interdependencies between the virtual and physical layers. RecoverGuard v3.0 performs in depth analysis of ESX Server, CIM and VMFS configurations and their mapping to physical devices. New gaps have been added to the RecoverGuard v3.0 knowledgebase, specific to VMware environments, allowing customers to align to VMware best practices standards. All existing gaps such as data tampering, data completeness, data consistency and optimization recommendations are now applicable to VMware environments as well.

Host configuration gap detection – RecoverGuard v3.0 enables customers to properly prepare for DR tests and to maintain a recoverable environment by providing them with a tool that discovers and reports on one of the most common DR Testing challenges - host configuration gaps (i.e., hardware, operating system and network resources), in order to ensure recovery time objective (RTO), recovery point objective (RPO) and business continuity objectives are met. Gap coverage includes comparison of versions and path levels of applications, databases and operating systems. In addition, RecoverGuard v3.0 also seeks and identifies differences in hardware specification such as CPUs, memory, etc… between production and DR hosts.

Enhanced integration with leading configuration management databases (CMDBs) and ticket management systems – RecoverGuard v3.0 now easily and transparently integrates with BMC Remedy and HP OpenView, allowing customers to maintain one point of contact for monitoring and managing their environment. RecoverGuard v3.0 can now be configured to send specific tickets and reports to these systems as standard practice.

Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) and Oracle Data Guard platform support – in response to market demand, RecoverGuard v3.0 can now scan HDS TrueCopy solutions, as well as HDS HiCommand Application Server, Adaptable Modular Storage (AMS), Workgroup Modular Storage (WMS), Universal Storage Platform V (USP V) and Universal Storage Platform VM (USP VM). In addition, RecoverGuard v3.0 is now able to scan Oracle Data Guard configurations for gaps and vulnerabilities. The enhancements ensure data protection and improved recoverability, along with optimization opportunities and best practices for these platforms.

“Most Fortune 500 IT organizations have told me they have deployed or are in the process of deploying server virtualization, such as EMC’s VMware, for server consolidation and simplified disaster recovery. They also share with me their concerns that server virtualization magnifies by an order of magnitude the serious consequences of DR errors or inconsistencies,” said Marc Staimer, Founder and President, Dragon Slayer Consulting. “Continuity Software’s RecoverGuard v3.0 eliminates these concerns for VMware by providing complete DR visibility where absolutely none existed before.”

“Indeed, most of our customers – from the world’s largest banks to telco’s and power companies – tell us that they are not using VMware for their Tier 1 critical business applications, but are deploying it on Tier 2 and Tier 3. They also tell us, DR is among the top three reasons for choosing to deploy VMware, but while it lowers cost and cuts complexity in this area, it also creates new challenges. RecoverGuard v3.0 has been enhanced to include all of the gaps that are unique to VMware environments, while also extending its current tampering, data corruption and optimization knowledgebase. This allows customers to rest assured that they are maximizing VMware’s benefits and eliminating possible issues,” said Avi Stone, Director of Marketing for Continuity Software. “RecoverGuard v3.0 guarantees business continuity and virtually zero RPO and RTO for VMware environments.”

“We have learned that many customers also suffer from problems during DR tests that are related to host configuration. Usually, no data loss is involved, but they experience prolonged downtime and must expend critical resources to recover,” continued Stone. “RecoverGuard v3.0 provides visibility into host configuration gaps. It includes sophisticated yet easy to understand reports that allow customers to better prepare for DR tests by comparing such critical parameters as hardware, OS and network resources.”

“Today, the truth is that for many of the world’s most advanced IT environments, the complexity and the number of stake holders involved in change management creates a situation where the IT team cannot possibly meet its RTO and RPO goals, or maintain visibility into their SLA. The production environment constantly changes, some changes ‘slip through’ and are not applied properly to the remote datacenter or localized DR solution, and once again the business is vulnerable to extended downtime, data loss or data corruption,” said Stone. “RecoverGuard has solved this issue for our customers. Moreover, with the addition of VMware support, host configuration gap detection, integration with leading CMDBs and ticket management systems, as well as HDS and Oracle Data Guard platform support we are demonstrating our unyielding commitment to delivering the greatest value and return on investment to customers by meeting both existing and emerging challenges.”

RecoverGuard v3.0 will be generally available on June 30, 2008.