… New NetApp SnapProtect Management Software

As enterprises transition to flexible and shared IT infrastructures – the foundation for cloud computing – they are turning to virtualization to gain value and improve efficiencies. They are also seeking ways to reliably meet recovery point objectives within compressed timeframes. To address these requirements, NetApp, Inc. is strengthening its portfolio of Integrated Data Protection solutions with its new NetApp SnapProtect management software. SnapProtect software combines NetApp Snapshot copies and replication with tape in a single backup solution to help organizations improve the speed, efficiency, and simplicity of their backup and recovery operations.

With today’s announcement, NetApp has expanded its collaboration with CommVault Systems, Inc. to include a global OEM agreement under which its CommVault Simpana software provides a core component of the new NetApp SnapProtect offering. Today’s announcement further underscores NetApp’s commitment to OEM business models as an integral component of the company’s strategy to expand its market reach.

In transitioning to virtualized, shared IT environments, enterprises are turning to snapshot copies to achieve efficiencies, backup vast data volumes within short timetables to meet demanding service levels, and recover business operations.

To maximize the efficiencies of snapshot copies, many backup strategies employed by enterprises today require a separate management process or detailed scripting, which introduces complexity and the potential for data loss. Using a single management framework, NetApp SnapProtect software eliminates the need to manage snapshot operations and backup in parallel, allowing enterprises to gain the speed and efficiency of snapshot copies with the flexibility of a backup application.

NetApp is focused on leveraging its vast ecosystem of technology partners to deliver innovative solutions that help enterprises transition to a flexible and efficient shared IT infrastructure and that enable IT to be an accelerator of the business.

Backup and recovery technology is a key element of integrated data protection – one of NetApp’s eight key purchasing criteria for enabling a flexible and efficient shared IT infrastructure. The NetApp Integrated Data Protection product portfolio is recognized for reducing costs and minimizing overall storage capacity requirements with a single unified architecture that delivers availability, backup, compliance, and disaster recovery services.

In addition, NetApp is expanding integration with CommVault Simpana software to manage both NetApp Snapshot copies and replication in their existing Simpana environment. This integration delivers an innovative approach to data protection that helps customers streamline management of terabytes to petabytes of data.

SnapProtect software is one of several solutions that are part of NetApp’s strategy to accelerate and simplify backup and recovery through the integration of NetApp Snapshot copies and replication with third-party backup management provided by partners.

NetApp SnapProtect Solution Details

• Fast and flexible. SnapProtect software combines NetApp Snapshot copies and disk-to-disk replication with traditional tape backup processes in a single solution. This solution accelerates NetApp data protection and enables users to customize a strategy based on cost, compliance, and recovery objectives.
• Efficient. SnapProtect software leverages NetApp’s storage efficiency technologies, which can reduce storage usage on primary and secondary disk by up to 90% to optimize IT efficiency.
• Simple. Snapshot copy creation, replication, and movement to tape are all managed from a unified console, enabling customers to respond faster to issues, streamline operations, and simplify management. A unified catalog tracks backups across disk and tape, accelerating search and restore operations.
• Virtualization and application aware. SnapProtect software integrates with virtualization, database, collaboration, and messaging applications to enable faster backup and granular, application-specific restores.
• Integration for faster, more efficient operations. Through integration with the latest version of CommVault Simpana 9 software, NetApp Snapshot copies and SnapVault replication can be provisioned and managed within a customer’s existing environment. Today’s announcement expands the integration to include virtually seamless Snapshot copy to SnapVault backup to tape policy support, SnapMirror replication support, enhanced hypervisor and database support, and automated secondary storage provisioning.
• Extensible. Every NetApp solution has access to the broader set of high-availability, disaster recovery, compliance, and archive capabilities found in the NetApp Integrated Data Protection portfolio. This enables customers to reduce cost and complexity across all their data protection needs.

Dave Russell, research vice president, Gartner, Inc., said: "The combination of growing data volumes and evolving IT infrastructures introduce added levels of complexity and present new challenges for IT professionals under pressure to meet stringent backup and recovery service levels. Enterprises need a backup strategy that enables them to reliably meet shorter backup windows and recovery point objectives."

Chris Cummings, vice president, Product and Solutions Marketing at NetApp, said: "NetApp is widely recognized as the leader in efficient, integrated data protection, and that’s one of many reasons we’re winning in shared IT infrastructures. We are at the forefront of a major shift in thinking around improving data protection to deliver outstanding efficiencies and enable enterprises to re-invest significant resources from ongoing operations to innovating for the future. With the introduction of our new SnapProtect solution, NetApp is building on its leadership in replication to address these new customer requirements."

David West, senior vice president, Marketing and Business Development at CommVault, said: "IT organizations are re-architecting their backup infrastructures to support today’s modern data center, contend with Big Data, improve SLA’s and right-size the exorbitant spend associated with antiquated approaches. Overcoming these challenges requires a radically different approach – one that tightly integrates data management software with array based snapshots and replication. Today’s announcement delivers on our promise to build innovative, high performance and cost effective solutions to solve companies’ most pressing data management challenges."