Enchantment Resort Opts for VM Backup With Nakivo

Enchantment Resort, a resort located in Arizona, is using Nakivo Backup & Replication installed on a Synology NAS to reliably backup their VMware VMs and improve VM backup speed by 40% with network acceleration.

Enchantment Resort is located in Sedona, AZ and is set on 70 acres of panoramic natural terrain. The hotel stands at the doorway of the secluded Boynton Canyon, surrounded by red rock formations known for inspiring the mind, body, and spirit. This southwest resort is a stop for travelers enjoying a vacation at Grand Canyon or looking for a romantic getaway.

The Enchantment Group manages hotels, resorts, destination spas, and golf courses, while their portfolio consists of five luxury properties, with Enchantment Resort being one of them. Their virtual environment supports the entire Enchantment Group, and includes several standalone VMware ESXi hosts with approximately 150 VMs. The VMs fulfill various purposes: some VMs are terminal servers, while others act as shared data servers, LAN users’ personal computers, various interface servers, or POS servers.

For the Enchantment Group, VM backup is of the high priority because if a system failure or any kind of physical disaster occurs, the group could instantly suffer business losses. Luxury resorts must be operational 24/7, and there is no such thing as a holiday.

“We used a different VM backup solution for quite some time, but the product had several disadvantages. First of all, the user interface was not user-friendly. Secondly, the whole backup administration process was awkward and time-consuming. Finally, failed backup jobs were a common issue, and related to the storage medium. We really wanted to eliminate all the previously mentioned issues and have peace of mind,” says Bob Gassick, director of IT, Enchantment Resort.

Gassick focused on Backup & Replication after discovering the product as an add-on application for Synology NAS servers. with this installation, Enchantment Resort has performing VM backup appliance. With this installation, all VM data components are unified in one device, providing a single system for hardware, software and storage.

“Installing Nakivo Backup & Replication on a Synology NAS could not be easier. Since we have multiple Synology NAS units, having Nakivo Backup & Replication and Synology DSM manage the backup repository eliminates the need for setting up ISCSI on Synology NAS servers,” says Gassick.

With Backup & Replication, Enchantment Resort can protect their VMware VMs and increase VM backup speed with the network acceleration feature, which uses traffic reduction techniques to speed up data transfer.

“I have backup jobs scattered over a 24-hour period, based on the requirements of a particular VM. Most backup jobs are scheduled to run during the night time. With Nakivo Backup & Replication, I get a successful email notification every day for the scheduled backup jobs. With the previous VM backup solution, failed backup jobs were the main issue, but with Nakivo Backup & Replication, the success rate of finished backup jobs is 100%. I attribute this success to the fact that both Nakivo Backup & Replication and Synology DSM manage the backup repository,” says Gassick.

With network acceleration, the amount of data that is transferred over the network is reduced, meaning that backup jobs can be completed much faster. By reducing the network load, network acceleration has sped up VM backup jobs by 40% for Enchantment Resort.

“Nakivo Backup & Replication does not seem to impact network load at all, and at the same time increases VM backup speed by 40%,” says Gassick.

Backup & Replication installed on Synology NAS provides Enchantment Resort with the ability to schedule VM backups and improve the success rate of finished backup jobs. With the network acceleration functionality, it has managed to increase their VM backup speed by 40% over their previous VM backup solution. The Synology NAS installation option eliminated the need for them to set up iSCSI.

“I love the web interface and dashboard, which provide ease of access and management, in contrast to the previous VM backup solution. Backup administration time is now minimal, as all backup jobs finish successfully and I receive email notifications every day. With Nakivo Backup & Replication, we worry much less about our backup jobs and their integrity. Ultimately, we achieved peace of mind with Nakivo Backup & Replication,” says Gassick.