Commvault's Clumio Backtrack manages AWS versioning for S3
Clumio offers management tools for AWS S3 versioning backups with granular recovery for billions of objects in its first release under the Commvault banner.
In its first product release since being acquired by Commvault, Clumio is adding data management tools supporting the restoration of billions of S3 objects at one time.
The new Clumio Backtrack offering is still part of the Clumio platform, but marks the start of a roadmap for Commvault's Commvault Cloud platform to offer AWS-native services, according to Commvault executives.
Clumio, an AWS S3 data protection vendor, was acquired by enterprise data protection and disaster recovery giant Commvault in September for $47 million. The acquisition was Commvault's second this year after acquiring Appranix, a cloud app configuration recovery vendor, in April.
The Clumio platform focuses on adding enterprise stability and services to AWS-native data, said Krista Case, research director for cybersecurity at The Futurum Group. AWS historically has taken more of a DIY approach to data protection and recovery, or said customers should consider third-party alternatives, leading to the rise of Clumio and other AWS specialists.
Commvault's focus on enterprise backup and recovery has shifted into cloud-native recovery, Case said. Acquisitions like Clumio and Appranix expedite development of an enterprise-viable cloud recovery suite, she added.
[Clumio is] more of an enterprise-facing application. They've focused on having really right capabilities around [the AWS] market in particular.
Krista CaseResearch director for cybersecurity, The Futurum Group
"[Clumio is] more of an enterprise-facing application," Case said. "They've focused on having really right capabilities around [the AWS] market in particular."
Versioning vision
Versioning for Amazon S3 object storage is a native feature available to all AWS storage customers for more than a decade, said Poojan Kumar, chief product innovation officer at Commvault and the co-founder and former CEO of Clumio.
If activated by the user, the versioning capability creates additional copies of S3 object buckets when changes occur, enabling a more granular restoration for data from a specific point in time or the ability to examine a specific object before a change, Kumar said.
The catch, however, is that the customers are responsible for managing the data lifecycle of these new versions and paying for the additional storage cost for each version copy, he said. AWS offers basic controls over this lifecycle, but this management can spiral out of control for enterprise customers that have potentially millions or billions of objects.
Clumio Backtrack enables S3 recovery through versioning at scale with tools to automate the data lifecycle, discover recent viable backups for recovery through a GUI calendar and understand how many versions exist for a given bucket, according to the company.
Modern ransomware attacks can occur weeks or months after the first infection, before security teams might pick up on compromised data, Case said. Having an easy way to review those older versions of an object at a glance not only speeds up recovery for finding a usable point, but also helps to isolate compromised data.
"Thinking about cyber recovery -- it's not going to be evident upfront when the attack hit," she said. "Having flexibility to get that data back in time is useful."
Using the native S3 versioning feature adds no additional cost to the service for creating versions, Kumar said. Instead, the service will be priced based on total objects under management. Customers will still need to budget storage for the additional versions through AWS.
Clumio Backtrack will be available in preview this December with general availability early next year, he said. Integration into the larger Commvault Cloud platform will come in the future.
Commvault has quickly turned around product releases this year based on its acquisitions. Commvault's Cloud Rewind, which launched in early October, offers point-in-time recovery capability for AWS data using the Appranix technology. Rewind automates rebuilding the application configuration around the data as well.
Future development
Commvault Cloud Rewind and the forthcoming Clumio Backtrack are both focused on data and application recovery for AWS, the next frontier for Commvault's platform, according to Tim Zonca, vice president of portfolio marketing at Commvault.
The technology of Clumio and Appranix will enable Commvault to begin offering AWS-native versions of specific Commvault Cloud capabilities next year. Expected capabilities to arrive in AWS include Commvault Cloud Air Gap Protect and Commvault Cloud Cleanroom Recovery.
Cloud Air Gap Protect will offer an air-gapped data vault within AWS, compared to the existing service in Azure. Cloud Cleanroom Recovery will similarly offer an AWS-native, on-demand, isolated cloud environment for recovery during a cyberattack.
Commvault will need to delineate the differences between the Appranix and Clumio offerings, as well as services already in the Commvault Cloud, said Johnny Yu, an analyst at IDC. These additions could expand Commvault's overall catalog, but customers should know exactly what services will best fit their environments or recovery needs.
"I see it as a move of broadening their depth of coverage," Yu said. "They've been playing around in Azure and now they've got something in AWS as well. It's less about overcoming the challenge of backing up AWS, but instead it's a quicker way [for Commvault] to offer something in AWS."
Tim McCarthy is a news writer for TechTarget Editorial covering cloud and data storage.
