Light on new functions, Nakivo's new update focuses on playing nicely with others, adding software support for VMware vSphere 6.7, Netgear ReadyNAS and Dell EMC Data Domain Boost.
Nakivo's latest update of its data protection software focuses on compatibility and integration, including a cross-platform recovery feature.
Nakivo Backup & Replication 7.5 is compatible with the latest version of VMware vSphere, integrates with the Dell EMC Data Domain BoostFS plug-in for deduplication and supports Netgear ReadyNAS devices.
Nakivo provides data protection for VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V and AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). This Nakivo update introduced the ability to export backup data in multiple formats and recover from that data across platforms.
The new Nakivo update also offers more granular control over the bandwidth throttling feature introduced in the previous version. Aside from setting general rules to limit data transfer speed during business hours, users can set bandwidth rules on a per-job basis if they so choose.
Nakivo competes mainly with larger and more established vendors, such as Veritas, Veeam and Acronis. Veniamin Simonov, Nakivo's lead product manager, said one way for the smaller company to win deals is to offer a low-cost product that has the features of its rivals.
"Backup software should not be expensive. While it's critical for the enterprise to have backup and recovery in case of a disaster, it's not the first thing businesses are invested into. So it shouldn't be expensive," Simonov said.
Nakivo update schedule helps in competitive market
To compete on features, Nakivo brings out quarterly updates of its software that protects virtual machines and recently expanded to include cloud support. Because Backup & Replication is Nakivo's only product, it receives the vendor's full engineering support.
Veniamin Simonov
"We're always trying to be flexible and deliver value much quicker. I've seen other vendors do major releases every year or every two years, so we're trying to do four times a year," Simonov said.
Sticking to its quarterly update schedule has allowed Nakivo to quickly make up ground on the rest of the industry, according to George Crump, founder of IT analysis firm Storage Switzerland. "I can't think of any major features that they are missing. ... In fact, there are some areas where they are unique: EC2-native backup, for example, and support for running on these economical NAS systems," Crump said.
Backup software should not be expensive. While it's critical for the enterprise to have backup and recovery in case of a disaster, it's not the first thing businesses are invested into.
Veniamin Simonovlead product manager, Nakivo
Crump said Nakivo's main competitive focus should be on Veeam, which has a foothold in the market for smaller companies looking to protect virtual machines and is making strides among enterprises now.
"Veeam should be, and probably is, their sole concern," Crump said of Nakivo. "In the market they play in -- the virtualized enterprise -- Veeam is the 800-pound gorilla."
Nakivo was founded in 2012 and started out as data protection solely for VMware. Despite its aggressive development schedule, Simonov said there is still much to do in the coming Nakivo update agenda.
"We are working towards disaster recovery capabilities, to be more competitive in the mid-business and enterprise markets," he said. "We are working towards having more capabilities in the physical environments. I believe no modern businesses are fully physical, but there is a big demand for physical backup from customers who have mixed IT environments. We are also working on native tape capabilities."
Veniamin Simonov
