Enhancements to NetApp Syncsort Integrated Backup

Syncsort Incorporated announced enhancements to the NetApp Syncsort Integrated Backup (NSB) solution that deliver productivity gains and cost savings to customers through 10-minute physical to virtual (P2V) server migration.

NSB leverages snapshot technology to provide rapid return to production for applications during P2V migrations. It converts Windows or Linux-based physical server backups into VMware virtual machines through an automated process that creates the virtual machine.

The solution uses NetApp-based snapshots to start the virtual machines, a process that can take as little as 10 minutes with some variation based on system resources. The full data set from the physical server is then copied to a newly created virtual machine.

When backup copying is complete, VMware Storage vMotion is used to switch the application from the snapshot to the newly-created virtual machine, typically with zero system downtime during the process. This results in a P2V server migration that reduces downtime when compared to traditional migration processes.

NSB also now ensures proper data alignment for the disks of the new virtual machine automatically as part of the 10-minute P2V migration process. This eliminates a common concern for customers when migrating applications, and helps them avoid virtual machine performance degradation and the lengthy downtime often needed to correct data alignment issues.

For organizations already struggling with storage alignment with existing virtual machines, NSB includes virtual to virtual (V2V) migration capabilities that can resolve these challenges in most cases with the same 10-minute downtime.

Should a customer need to return applications to physical servers for any reason, NSB comes packaged with tools for virtual to physical (V2P) migration. This helps simplify and avoid an often complex, lengthy process that has historically been a weakness in other migration tools.

In the event of a disaster at either a local or remote site, NSB offers capabilities for leveraging a P2V migration as a means to rapidly restore entire applications.

All of the migration features, including the new enhancements, are included as part of the standard NSB license without limitation on the number of systems that can be migrated.

"We have generated significant business value from using Syncsort’s data protection technology to accelerate our migration path to a VMware environment, as well as to meet all of our other data and application protection requirements," said Dennis Rachiele, Senior Network Administrator, Taco Inc. "Because we needed to convert dozens of physical servers, the solution’s ability to provision virtual servers was critical for us. The physical-to-virtual transition was simple and worked flawlessly. We converted 17 application and data servers in just a few nights, rather than the weeks or months it would have otherwise taken."

"ESG data protection research found that organizations can achieve sweeping benefits in addressing new requirements for virtual environments when they augment data backup and recovery with system-level protection," said Lauren Whitehouse, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "The potential for saving time and money is difficult to ignore and is among the reasons why solutions, such as NetApp Syncsort Integrated Backup, that enable capture of whole virtual machines and provide robust conversion capabilities, including P2V, are becoming increasingly attractive and valuable to companies."  

"Customers are constantly seeking new, innovative approaches for accelerating their virtualization initiatives to drive the most business value in the shortest amount of time," said Parag Patel, Vice President, Global Strategic Alliances, VMware. "The use of VMware Storage vMotion as part of NSB’s 10-minute migration process, and the way it automatically aligns data in the new VMDK file, will help increase data migration and recovery performance."