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Few data storage and protection companies provide all of the following in one system: hybrid on-site storage/in-cloud storage, data deduplication on a granular (block-level) basis, data replication, disaster recovery, firewalls and phishing/spam prevention.
Barracuda Networks is one that does. In fact, it converges all of the above in a plug-and-play data center appliance. It turns out that a lot of people running IT systems aren’t aware of this because Barracuda has always been known as strictly a storage hardware maker for midrange markets.
It indeed makes 1U and 2U storage arrays for that audience—and more so lately for larger enterprises—but in the last few years the company also has been investing more and more into software-defined storage packages that are now ready for prime time.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company on Sept. 9 launched a new product and service initiative called Data Protection Plus, which uses this converged storage package to enable users to access, retain and share business data from any location using any type of connected device.
Connecting Physical, Cloud in One System
In Data Protection Plus, Barracuda has made available several new products and services—and enhancements to current products—across its cloud-connected backup, archiving and productivity product line. It also announced the acquisition of C2C Systems, a U.K.-based provider of information management, email archiving and PST-file management software.
Barracuda Cloud is an independent co-location-based storage system that utilizes the company’s own infrastructure—both in hardware and software.
Key features of Data Protection Plus include:
—Barracuda Backup v6.0: Extends flexibility for organizations deploying storage in cloud-connected or private (or “dark”) environments. It includes local control to enable operation and management in private environments without sending data to the cloud, faster recovery times with granular recovery of Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines without the need to restore the VM and support for Microsoft SQL Server 2014.
—Barracuda Message Archiver v4.0: Extends archiving capacity by allowing Barracuda Message Archiver to move or copy data to the Barracuda Cloud. The new cloud archiving gives users access to email from any device, regardless of whether email services are available, extending capacity and offsite disaster recovery.
—Barracuda Copy: The new Barracuda Copy Site Server is an on-premises device that enables onsite and cloud-based file sync and share to optimize access, performance and security. The package works with corporate authentication services, including LDAP, for centralized, seamless access control, and offers support for existing file shares with the ability to act as a local network drive.
—Barracuda SignNow Appliance: The new Barracuda SignNow Appliance is an on-premises device that allows organizations to share, sign and collaborate in a secure environment. Organizations now can deploy a robust eSignature solution on-premises—in either hardware or virtual form factors—for better control over critical business documents.
C2C Brings Order to PST Chaos
Barracuda’s addition of C2C Systems will give customers a more complete information management and archiving portfolio to simplify their IT. The C2C software will help eliminate risk associated with distributed PST email files. Terms of the acquisition were not released.
“Our customers have all grown up having to deal with Iron Mountain (physical tape, disk and document storage service provider) and ‘If I need some sort of recovery, how do I make that happen fast enough?’ ” CEO B.J. Jenkins, a former executive at storage giant EMC, told eWEEK.
“Barracuda had the heritage of building its [physical storage] products as cloud-connected from the very beginning. It lent itself well into backup, but you also need on-premises backup, which they also had. You can’t recover cloud backup fast enough.
“Barracuda was one of the only companies that did both. That, to me, was the right way to do it,” Jenkins said, explaining why he made the move to Barracuda in 2012 after 14 years with EMC. Jenkins had last served as president of EMC’s Backup Recovery Systems division.
New functionality available as part of Data Protection Plus is included at no additional cost to customers with current Energize Updates subscriptions, the company said.