Hotlink Announces DR/BC Solution Using AWS

HotLink
Corporation announced HotLink
DR Express, a DR and BC solution that leverages AWS to
economically protect all types of vSphere VMs.

It provides a plug-in solution for
VMware vCenter users to integrate data protection with day-to-day
operational management of VMware Windows and Linux workloads. Within
minutes of a failure, IT administrators can recover to a DR/BC site
within AWS for the cost of basic backup.

It addresses the market need for a
business recovery solution for workloads that could never sustain the
cost of a replica DR site, a luxury only justified for critical
applications. Basic backup and/or replication have been the only
affordable options, but those recovery processes require standby,
available hardware and a time-intensive effort to restore the VMs.

It is made to extend VMware vCenter
capabilities to include automated DR/BC site setup, maintenance,
recovery and management for AWS, ensuring that downtime is kept to
only minutes rather than hours or days, and management is easy with
VMware vCenter. Built on the patent-approved HotLink transformation
engine, it enables VMware users to benefit from DR/BC in Amazon EC2 –
at a total cost that is practical for everyday workloads.

"HotLink DR Express is
incredibly easy to deploy. Within only 30 minutes the product was
installed, and we had our first three VMs protected in Amazon. The
two most impressive features are the simplicity and tight integration
with VMware vCenter. Protecting VMs is as easy a checking a box,"
said Michael Warchut, senior network engineer, Monsoon
Commerce Inc. "The fact that it’s fully integrated into
VMware vCenter means we can manage our DR site in the same way we
manage our production servers. We definitely see HotLink DR Express
as an easy, economical and powerful solution for protecting all types
of workloads in our environment."

There is no need to purchase dedicated
recovery hardware since resources are available on demand, at scale
through AWS. VMware vCenter users select which VMs to protect and the
frequency of the restore points – up to 500, configurable by VM. It
automatically uploads the initial VM to Amazon S3 along with the
ongoing differentials, without any manual steps, other consoles,
appliances or conversion tools. Upon a VM failure or during a testing
cycle, it transforms the VM and restores operations in AWS in
minutes. Instances only incur Amazon EC2 charges during the period of
the restoration; dormant VMs and differentials benefit for the
S3 pricing. Alternatively, restoration back on-premise or to a VMware
vCloud provider can be selected, if preferred. With HotLink DR
Express, Amazon restored VMs are fully manageable by VMware vCenter,
alongside on-premise VMs, and they are migrated back from AWS,
whenever appropriate.

"The majority of server
failures are hardware problems, not natural disasters or terrorist
attacks. Unfortunately, hardware failures happen every day. Although
traditional DR/BC solutions have productivity benefits for any
company, the cost of deploying for most workloads is just not
financially feasible," said George Crump, president, Storage
Switzerland. "HotLink DR Express fills a big void in the
data protection industry, an easy-to-deploy and intuitive-to-use DR
and BC solution, integrated with existing operations, and affordable
for every company.

Key features:

• Extend VMware vCenter management to
  DR/BC operations in Amazon – Administrators have a unified
  management platform that extends VM administration and management to
  the AWS DR/BC site and allows recovery plans to be built using
  vCenter-compatible tools such as PowerCLI and Orchestrator.

• Automate cloud DR/BC site creation
  and maintenance – vCenter users can select the desired on-premise
  Windows or Linux VMs for protection, configure RPO (per VM), and
  replicate the VMs in AWS with differentials synchronized as changes
  occur.

• Perform integrated monitoring and
  continuous testing – With the ability to monitor the AWS DR/BC
  site from vCenter, the status of all protected workloads for any
  restore point is readily visible. Test environments can be
  provisioned and validated to ensure that DR/BC recovery plans are
  deployed as expected and fully functional, when needed.

• Restore business operations within
  minutes – Users can restore protected VMs in any Amazon EC2
  region within minutes of a failure at any VM restore point. Amazon
  EC2 instances are provisioned from vCenter as easily as existing
  on-premise VMs.

• Migrate back on-premise –
  Administrators can restore on-premise operations, whether to the
  current state of AWS VMs or the original restore point, when the
  local infrastructure is available.

Lynn LeBlanc, CEO and founder, HotLink,
said: "HotLink DR Express makes DR and BC accessible by any
organization and for every workload by opening up AWS for VMware
recovery. Most importantly, HotLink fully integrates this capability
into the existing management environment of VMware vCenter, so
business continues as usual if a failure happens. By combining Amazon economics with HotLink’s unique transformation technology, HotLink DR
Express is a win for any VMware shop, large or small."

Availability and pricing
It is available in both 30-day trial
and subscription editions. Subscription pricing
is $25 per VM/month
on an annual subscription.