NetApp OEMing CommVault …

CommVault Systems, Inc. has entered into a global OEM agreement with NetApp, Inc. under which NetApp will integrate elements of CommVault’s Simpana 9 software with NetApp SnapShot and replication technology, under the NetApp SnapProtect brand.

NetApp SnapProtect software, based on an OEM version of Simpana software and close integration with NetApp SnapVault and SnapMirror transforms how companies can protect, manage and access enterprise data across all tiers of storage.

Under this expanded relationship between NetApp and CommVault, NetApp will offer its NetApp SnapProtect branded software, a packaging of the Simpana snapshot copies, replication and tape management software, licensed on a per controller basis.

SnapProtect software is designed for customers that want to combine NetApp Snapshot technology and replication with tape in a single backup solution that accelerates and simplifies data protection.

Simpana customers will also benefit from this announcement because of the increased integration and management of NetApp Snapshot technologies within Simpana to accelerate and simplify the backup and recovery process.

NetApp SnapProtect management software will be sold through NetApp’s worldwide direct sales force and distribution partners.

With today’s OEM agreement, NetApp joins a list of storage vendors that have partnered with CommVault, including Dell, Hitachi Data Systems, Bull and Fujitsu.

A Modern Data Protection Solution
for Physical and Virtual Data Centers
Legacy approaches to enterprise data protection are broken and can lead to a risk of business interruption and costs. According to Lauren Whitehouse, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group, "more than one-third (38%) of ESG research respondents identified improving the backup and recovery of virtual machines as a key area of focus. As more organizations deploy virtualization in production environments and expand the reach of the technology, the inadequacies of non-optimized backup and recovery solutions will continue to be exposed."

Enterprise organizations face significant challenges as today’s data centers rapidly transition to modern, virtualized architectures, including increasing data storage complexity, information growth, regulatory requirements and mobile workforces.

For customers requiring efficient protection of large volumes of data, who simply can’t afford application down time, CommVault’s integration with NetApp and the Simpana single protection policy approach catalogs, schedules and manages snapshots for rapid recovery of application-consistent snapshots.

Simpana software not only manages the scheduling and movement of persistent hardware snapshots, but also indexes each snapshot to provide application intelligence, even as they are replicated to alternate NetApp storage and written to tape.

Previously, customers had limited awareness of the data within a snapshot and had to resort to complicated scripting in order to move data from a snapshot to tape. By creating application aware, indexed snapshot copies with NetApp replication technology, users can seamlessly protect large datasets such as those created by VMware in an efficient manner.

David West, senior vice president, Marketing and Business Development at CommVault, said: "IT organizations are re-architecting their backup infrastructures in an effort to modernize their approach to data protection and speed data recovery across physical and virtual environments. NetApp SnapProtect offers customers seamless integration between CommVault Simpana software and NetApp Snapshot software and SnapVault replication, which significantly reduces operational costs, lowers risk, and eliminates the complexity of managing enterprise data protection."

Chris Cummings, vice president, Product and Solutions Marketing at NetApp, said: "With the introduction of our new SnapProtect solution, NetApp is building on its leadership in efficient integrated data protection to address new customer requirements. Our expanded collaboration with CommVault is part of NetApp’s strategy to leverage industry-leading 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."

Dave Russell, research vice president, Gartner, Inc., said: "As organizations move to cloud and virtualized environments, a level of complexity is introduced that is making it challenging for IT professionals to meet backup and recovery service levels. Enterprises need a backup strategy that enables them to reliably meet shorter backup windows and recovery point objectives."