Q&A with John Maxwell of Quest Software - Page 4

We believe NetVault XA is the first data protection technology that truly enables IT to align backup and recovery directly to an organization’s service continuity needs. As we’ve discussed, traditional data protection software requires admins to set and manage backups based on servers and infrastructure, an approach that provides no visibility into whether or not critical IT services can be restored in accordance with SLAs. NetVault XA, on the other hand, enables admins to group, schedule, view, and manage backups based on specific IT services, and gives them the ability to set specific recovery time and recovery point objectives for each.

So, for example, with NetVault XA, admins can set specific backup and recovery policies for each of the organization’s mission-critical financial services, regardless of whether the servers, applications, and databases that power those services reside on-premises or off, or in a physical or virtual environment. That’s a capability that we believe is truly unique to the market.

VSM: What other aspects of NetVault XA make it stand out, in your opinion?

JM: One of the other things that I think really makes NetVault XA stand out is that it enables a multi-dimensional, role-based experience for IT admins. So whereas most management consoles offer a flat, single-dimensional view intended solely for the generalist backup admin, NetVault XA provides specialists such as VMware admins, Exchange admins and DBAs with access to customized views and workflows that map directly to the specific SLAs associated with each role.

We like to think of it as shattering the single-pane-of-glass approach to backup and recovery, because not only are we providing admins with customized views into their specific, role-based workflows, we’re also enabling them to leverage specialized, purpose-built data protection tools – such as vRanger – to perform certain granular, platform-specific backup and recovery tasks, all without sacrificing the convenience and simplicity of single-console management.

VSM: Speaking of vRanger, you recently had a new release, version 5.4. Tell us about some of the enhancements in this release.

JM: We really had two major points of emphasis with this release. The first was to deliver support for EMC Data Domain Boost software. With the newly introduced support, vRanger customers can expect significantly faster throughput, reduced network traffic, and considerably shortened backup windows when backing up to a Data Domain system. vRanger joins an elite set of backup solutions that support Data Domain Boost and have been certified by EMC.

We also focused heavily on improving the overall out-of-box experience for our customers. To that end, we delivered numerous enhancements aimed at simplifying installation, configuration and management, including a centralized, wizard-driven Virtual Appliance (VA) deployment with just a couple of mouse clicks; wizard-driven VSS tools configuration for integration of VMware snapshots and Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Copy Services for tight, application-aware backup; and cluster support that allows a single vRanger VA to perform backup and replication for a cluster of ESXi hosts. It’s another great step in vRanger’s evolution, and the response from our customer base has been outstanding.