StorageCraft eases virtual machine restores

StorageCraft claims that ShadowProtect can rebuild a server in under 30 minutes

StorageCraft has released three software packages which it claims will allow companies to restore desktops and servers with ease.

The backup and disaster recovery firm said that ShadowProtect Server 4.0 and ShadowProtect Small Business Server 4.0 will let IT directors tackle disaster recovery and backups across virtualised environments.

"The new features in ShadowProtect Server 4.0 will give IT administrators flexible options for getting their systems and data back online very quickly," said StorageCraft chief technology officer Scott Barnes.

"Backup is easy and everyone is doing it. Restoring massive amounts of data quickly and making it accessible is the difficult part. ShadowProtect's advanced technology helps get businesses back online in minutes, not hours or days."

A new management console, meanwhile, includes the ability to select what to restore at a very granular level. Customers could choose to restore key elements one at a time, for example, or go for a full system backup.

StorageCraft has also released ShadowProtect Desktop 4.0 which can be used to remotely restore PCs and laptops. The software can be used to centrally manage and restore enterprise virtual machines on a granular or bare-metal level, the firm said.

The desktop option makes use of StorageCraft's Virtual boot tech, which in turn uses Sun Microsystems' VirtualBox to boot a backup version onto a virtual machine.

"VirtualBoot is an amazingly quick way to failover to a virtual machine," said Brandon Nordquist, vice president of product management at StorageCraft.

"There are several kinds of scenarios where VirtualBoot technology can be very helpful, including testing new applications, booting obsolete operating systems or recovering files from old systems."

All three options are available now, and StorageCraft said that pricing depends on volume.