Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • IT Management
    • Small Business
    • Virtualization

    Virtualization Changing Backup and Recovery Management: Report

    By
    Nathan Eddy
    -
    February 25, 2011
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Backup, recovery and security solutions specialist Acronis released data from its Global Disaster Recovery Index, which found that 73 percent of small and midsize businesses worldwide agreed that virtualization has either completely or partially changed the way the business manages its backup and disaster recovery.

      Acronis issued a warning about the potential concerns associated with the rapid adoption of virtualization, as the complexities of managing migration, backup and recovery between physical, virtual and cloud environments set in.

      The report concluded that while the introduction of virtualization was fuelled by server consolidation and cost efficiencies, this so-called next phase, or second generation, of virtualization adoption poses challenges to traditional backup and recovery processes as users struggle to implement known backup and disaster-recovery practices in a new hybrid environment.

      “The introduction of server and workstation virtualization was not about backup, it was largely driven by cost and consolidation. As we progress into widespread virtualization adoption, IT managers are learning that traditional physical server backup solutions are inadequate for virtual-machine backup, and maintaining separate backup strategies for physical and virtual confuses the backup scenario even more,” said Seth Goodling, virtualization practice manager at Acronis.

      The index showed agent-based software has been adapted to provide some of the functionality required for backup and recovery in a virtualized environment. However, experts warn that these workarounds have proven to be hard to implement, ineffective and added costs to the virtualization programs. These issues, combined with the complexity of managing data across physical, virtual and cloud environments, are noted as potential obstacles in the path to effective virtualization and creating a disaster-recover strategy.

      “As a cloud-service provider, we’re often approached by IT directors who still have concerns about the process of safely backing up data in their virtualized environments,” said Justin Giardina, CTO of Iland, a cloud-infrastructure specialist. “What businesses are looking for is help in protecting their data and minimizing the impact of unplanned downtime.”

      The Acronis report advised IT managers that the implementation of a backup and disaster-recovery strategy as robust as that deployed for physical servers is required for all virtual machines (especially if the virtual machine supports a production application). The report also recommended independent backup and frequent refreshes of virtual machines, as well as image-based recovery, which restores the entire virtual machine (including the guest operating system and configuration settings).

      “File or block-based backups only restore data and require the entire VM to be configured and imported back to the cloud before the data can be restored,” the report noted. “Avoid this by taking an entire VM system image and using it as a warm VM standby.”

      The company also recommends using virtual-server backup technology that was designed as agentless from the start. Instead of requiring that each virtual machine have a backup agent or that an expensive proxy server with snapshot space be provided for backup, some software only requires one agent per physical host that can support all of the virtual servers on the host, the report noted.

      Nathan Eddy
      A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Nathan was perviously the editor of gaming industry newsletter FierceGameBiz and has written for various consumer and tech publications including Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, CRN, and The Times of London. Currently based in Berlin, he released his first documentary film, The Absent Column, in 2013.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×