Data backup and recovery tools: 2018 Products of the Year finalists
The 2018 backup and disaster recovery software finalists feature new vendors in the competition along with established players. Many products offer comprehensive data protection.
The 12 finalists in the data backup and recovery tools and services category for Storage magazine and SearchStorage's 2018 Storage Products of the Year competition focus heavily on the cloud and reflect other major trends in the market.
Some of the biggest players in data backup and recovery tools are featured in the category this year. They're going up against a few newer vendors looking to make their mark. While some of the finalists offer complete data protection platforms, others showcase more targeted support, such as in archiving or Office 365 backup.
Cloud backup, recovery and management were key elements for 2018. Other recurring features include software-defined storage, Office 365 protection and detection of the ever-evolving threat of ransomware.
The data backup and recovery tools category includes backup and recovery software, cloud backup and recovery services, on-premises backup and disaster recovery, snapshots, replication and archiving.
Acronis Data Cloud
Acronis Data Cloud is a backup and DR platform that evolved from the veteran vendor's hybrid cloud backup product. Key features include file sync and share, AI-based ransomware technology, blockchain-fueled document certification (ASign) and Office 365 backup. The product offers protection across physical, virtual, cloud and mobile platforms.
Aparavi Active Archive
Aparavi Active Archive provides intelligent data management for unstructured data. The new vendor claims to search across all platforms and time, so customers do not have to know where data is or when it was stored. Active Archive offers multi-cloud mobility, advanced search based on metadata and patented data-pruning technology.
Asigra Cloud Backup Evolved 14
Version 14 of Asigra Cloud Backup software focuses on what the longtime vendor calls the ransomware "Attack-Loop," which infiltrates backups and stays dormant until data is recovered following an attack. Asigra integrates anti-ransomware technology in the data backup and restore streams and uses bi-directional malware detection. The data backup and recovery tool also features GDPR compliance tools and Office 365 data protection.
Druva Cloud Platform
The Druva Cloud Platform provides unified data management services across endpoints, servers and cloud applications. The data backup and recovery tools vendor says it streamlines protection and removes the need for IT to separately manage the data. The completely cloud-architected platform scales on demand and provides backup and recovery management, auto tiering and global deduplication.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.2
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.2 provides data protection and availability, simplifying recovery across VMs, files and databases. Features include snapshot and copy management for quick and efficient backups, instant recovery and data reuse for processes such as DevOps that uses backup data sets. This data backup and recovery tool integrates with IBM Spectrum Protect or works as a stand-alone platform.
Imanis Data Management Platform 4.0
Imanis provides data management for Hadoop and NoSQL databases. The Imanis Data Management Platform 4.0 features data protection, data orchestration and machine learning-powered automation that helps detect ransomware. Its SmartPolicies feature also uses machine learning to automatically set optimal backup policies.
Nasuni Archive
Nasuni Archive is a software-defined archiving platform that works with Nasuni Primary to automatically track file usage and reclassify inactive files to the lower cost Archive subscription. The Archive platform provides unlimited capacity without hardware upgrades, instant access to archived files from any location and multi-cloud support.
Quest Software QoreStor
Quest's new QoreStor is what the vendor calls a software-defined secondary storage platform that is backup vendor-agnostic. Features include enterprise-class compression and deduplication, direct cloud backup and remote replication for disaster recovery. QoreStor uses variable block deduplication and provides inline and source dedupe capabilities.
Rubrik Polaris Radar
Rubrik Polaris is a SaaS platform for data management. Polaris Radar's focus is on ransomware prevention, using machine learning to detect abnormal behavior and recover from an attack in just a few clicks, whether millions of VMs or one file is infected. Radar monitors all data on premises and in the cloud under management by Rubrik's Cloud Data Management platform.
Scale Computing HC3 Cloud Unity
Scale Computing's HC3 Cloud Unity provides data protection for on-premises virtualized workloads with replication to the cloud for recovery. The data backup and recovery tools vendor claims HC3 Cloud Unity creates seamless management between hyper-converged infrastructure and the Google Cloud Platform. It also includes a runbook to help execute a DR plan when needed.
Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 2
Version 2 of Veeam's Backup for Microsoft Office 365 adds data protection for OneDrive for Business and SharePoint, in addition to its previous Exchange Online support. The vendor provides throttling prevention that detects when a mailbox is going to overheat during a backup. Veeam claims its Backup for Microsoft Office 365 has been downloaded by 35,000 organizations.
Zerto IT Resilience Platform 6.0
The newly rebranded Zerto IT Resilience Platform converges backup, DR and cloud mobility, providing inter-cloud and intra-cloud protection. The platform, previously called Zerto Virtual Replication, offers automation and orchestration, continuous journal-based protection, visibility through analytics and enterprise-class scalability.
