Quest Software Unveils NetVault Extended Architecture

Quest Software, Inc. unveiled NetVault Extended Architecture (XA), a platform unifying its data protection technologies and enabling organizations to align backup and recovery directly to their service continuity needs.

NetVault XA allows administrators to organize, schedule, view, and manage backups based on specific business and technology services. This gives them the ability to set specific recovery time and recovery point objectives for each, regardless of whether the servers, applications, and databases that power those services reside on- or off-premise, or in a physical or virtual environment, or a combination thereof.

In addition, it enables IT to move beyond the single-pane-of-glass approach to backup by delivering a customized experience for administrators across multiple roles. Whereas most data protection solutions offer a flat, single-dimensional view intended solely for the generalist backup administrator, NetVault XA gives specialists such as DBAs, application administrators, and VMware administrators access to customized views and workflows that map directly to the specific SLAs associated with each role.

With NetVault XA, administrators have visibility into the recoverability of the specific IT services they are responsible for managing, and are able to leverage specialized data protection tools to perform granular, platform-specific backup and recovery tasks – all without sacrificing the convenience of single-console management.

It also features additional capabilities designed to simplify backup and recovery for administrators, including:

• Security across the enterprise: An intelligent and adaptive policy engine that enforces specific data protection controls and requirements.
• SLA validation: Built-in validation of a given protection plan through alerts that proactively let users know whether or not an SLA is achievable based on the established backup and recovery parameters.
• Unified management of cloud assets: The ability to act as a gateway to multi-vendor clouds, thus enabling users to manage both on-premise and cloud assets from a single interface.
• Role-based reporting capabilities: Empower users to develop reports that map directly to the specific SLAs they are responsible for maintaining, to better demonstrate the impact and value of backup and recovery to the entire business.
• Anytime, anywhere access: Remote, cloud-based operating capabilities, giving users anytime, anywhere access, including the ability to manage and control backup and recovery operations directly from their iPads.

Unifying Quest’s Data Protection Portfolio
A solution with a set of shared services, NetVault Extended Architecture will serve as the centerpiece of Quest’s data protection solution. It will enable customers to deploy and manage all of the company’s backup and recovery technologies – including the NetVault, vRanger, LiteSpeed and Recovery Manager product families – from a single console, while leveraging a host of shared services including deduplication; cloud gateway; and a common scheduler, catalog, policy manager, and reporting engine.

All of Quest’s current data protection products, as well as future releases, will snap into the NetVault XA management console. This extensible architecture is designed to give companies the flexibility to grow seamlessly from SMB to enterprise, by leveraging a pay-as-you-grow approach that alleviates any need to rip and replace solutions as the organization’s needs evolve.
 
Pricing and Availability
NetVault XA will be available to customers as a downloadable thin-client at no additional charge. The first iteration of NetVault XA will be available in the second half of 2012, and will be incorporated into the planned releases of NetVault Backup, NetVault SmartDisk, and vRanger.

Walter Angerer, SVP and GM, Data Protection, Quest Software, said: "The changing requirements of the modern business are forcing IT to shift from an infrastructure-centric view of backup and recovery to a services-centric view, one in which the focus is on protecting mission-critical applications and databases, regardless of whether they reside in physical, virtual or cloud environments. Quest is leveraging its longstanding expertise as a leading application, database, and virtualization management vendor to bring to market a deeply integrated, enterprise-class data protection solution that provides a level of application-recoverability no other vendor can match. With NetVault Extended Architecture, IT can finally ensure their backup and recovery operations are aligned with the service continuity needs of the organization."
 
Robert Amatruda, research director, Data Protection and Recovery, IDC, said: "Customers are grappling with the management and protection challenges in mixed physical, virtual and cloud environments. Quest’s NetVault XA software allows customers to simplify management and protect their critical data by aligning their recovery needs to business-line objectives and service continuity needs."
 
Don McNaughton, VP of sales, HorizonTek, Inc., said: "As a longstanding Quest data protection partner, we see NetVault XA as a major step forward in the company’s evolution as a backup vendor. Not only will HorizonTek’s customers benefit from being able to manage multiple Quest products from a single console, but the ability to better manage and meet SLAs for application recovery will help address a major need in the marketplace."

Dan Peichel, VP, Peripheral Products, Inc., said: "We’re always looking for ways to help our customers get more out of their technology investments – especially when it comes to backup and recovery – so we’re really excited about what Quest is doing with its new NetVault XA platform. They’re not only making it easier for customers to deal with the challenges posed by complex environments, rampant data growth, and demanding user expectations, but they’re doing so with a truly unique, modern user-interface that we think our customers are going to love."