Altaro VM Backup Solutions: Hyper-V and VMware Virtual Server Backup
Altaro VM Backup ConsultingAltaro VM Backup is designed to provide small and mid-size businesses with a reliable and affordable solution for backing up and restoring Hyper-V and VMware-based virtual machines (VMs). Altaro VM Backup can be used for local, offsite, multi-site, and cloud-based environments and also supports cost-effective cloud backup to a Microsoft Azure Block Blob storage account. Top features include industry-leading Augmented Inline Deduplication to reduce backup storage requirements, Continuous Data Protection (CDP) with backup intervals as low as five minutes for reducing your exposure to data loss, military-grade encryption, granular restore options for entire virtual machines or for individual files and emails, extensive support for Windows Server Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) and VMware vCenter, and the ability to leverage Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) technology to back up live virtual machines without downtime.

Progent is a certified Altaro partner and can provide a broad range of services to help you plan, deploy, optimize and troubleshoot a backup/restore solution based on the Altaro VM Backup platform. Progent also offers ProSight Data Protection Services managed backup to provide end-to-end monitoring and management of your backup ecosystem. Progent's Hyper-V consultants and VMware experts can help you design and manage virtual machine deployments that utilize on-premises or offsite VMs or that use a hybrid architecture that incorporates both local and cloud-based resources. In addition, Progent offers business continuity/disaster recovery (BCDR) planning consulting to help smaller organizations prepare for potentially catastrophic threats to business-critical data such as ransomware, human error, hardware failure and natural disasters.

Key Features of Altaro VM Backup
Altaro VM Backup is designed to handle the backup/restore requirements of most small businesses and combines simplicity of operation with a rich feature set that includes capabilities typically found only in enterprise-grade platforms. Altaro protects the most widely used versions of Hyper-V and VMware and supports popular backup media:

Supported Hyper-V OS Supported VMware OS Supported Media
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2008 R2 		VMware vCenter
V(5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0 & 6.5)
VMware vSphere
V(5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0 & 6.5)
VMware ESXi
V(5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0 & 6.5)
(Free ESXi not supported) 		USB External Drives
eSata External Drives
USB Flash Drives
Network Shares
NAS devices
PC Internal Hard Drives
RDX Cartridges
Altaro Offsite Server

Altaro protects popular versions of Hyper-V and VMware and supports most backup media

Altaro VM Backup includes powerful features in three crucial areas of data protection: backup/replication, restoration/disaster recovery, plus management and reporting.

Backup and Replication
Altaro VM Backup offers fast, efficient, and secure backup for data protection and archiving plus offsite replication for disaster recovery. Major backup and replication features include:

  • Augmented Inline Deduplication: Inline variable block size deduplication sends only changed data to the backup device or site, conserving bandwidth, reducing storage requirements, and improving performance.
  • Continuous Data Protection (CDP): Rather than run daily backups, you can reduce backup intervals to as short as five minutes to lower your Recovery Point Objective (RPO).
  • Concurrency: You can back up multiple virtual machines simultaneously, which makes it possible to conduct backup operations during shorter off-hour time windows when more bandwidth is available and network performance is less critical.
  • Live/Hot Backup: Integration with Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service allows you to back up virtual machines without incurring downtime.
  • Cluster Shared Volumes & VMware vCenter: The ability to back up virtual machines running in a Hyper-V Failover Cluster (with or without cluster shared volumes) or in a VMware vCenter environment supports larger deployments.
  • Offsite Replication: To facilitate disaster recovery, you can set up the Altaro Offsite Server tool on an external server for storing a copy of your backups at a different location.
  • Flexible Scheduling and Retention Policies: You can set different backup schedules and retention policies for individual VMs.

    Altaro VM Backup Consultants

    Backup scheduling and retention options for Altaro are easy to configure, review and update

  • Application Consistent Backups: Altaro VM Backup can use Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and all VSS Writers running inside the protected VM when making a backup. Applications like Microsoft SQL and Exchange will be aware the backup has happened and automatically run the relevant maintenance tasks such as truncating transaction logs.
  • Military-Grade Encryption: Prior to saving your data to a backup device, you have the option of encrypting it using 256-Bit AES Encryption.
  • Virtual Disk Exclude: You can select which Virtual Disks to include or exclude in your VM backups.
  • Grandfather-Father-Son Archiving (GFS): In addition to your continuous and daily backups, you can set up a special backup schedule to create and archive a new backup version every week, month and year.
  • Cloud Backup to Azure: Altaro supports backup to an Azure Block Blob storage account, which is the most affordable storage option available on the Azure cloud.
Altaro VM Backup Azure Integration Consultants

Altaro lets you back up VMs that are hosted on-premises, offsite or in the cloud

Restore and Disaster Recovery
Altaro VM Backup includes a rich set of tools for point-in-time granular recovery of VMs and files that have been periodically backed up and need to be restored for any reason. In a disaster recovery scenario, Altaro has tools for quickly restoring an entire site from the latest replicated version stored offsite.

  • Restore as Clone: You can restore a VM backup to a new location with a new name, allowing the cloned VM to run side by side with the original VM. This avoids the need to overwrite live VMs.
  • Restore to Different Host: You can restore a VM backup to a different host. The VM will be restored to a new location on the new host and will be given a new name.
  • Boot from Backup: You can instantly boot any VM version directly from the backup location either for verification purposes or to achieve a significant reduction in RTO (Recovery Time Objectives) in a disaster recovery scenario.
  • File Level Restore: You can quickly restore individual files and folders from any VM backup.
  • Microsoft Exchange Item Level Restore: You can restore individual emails from within the Exchange Mailbox database.

    Altaro VM Backup Exchange Integration Consultants

    Altaro VM Backup allows you to restore individual emails from an Exchange Mailbox

  • Restore Different Versions: You can restore from multiple points in time rather than being limited to the latest backup
  • Sandbox Restores and Verification: This features lets you schedule or manually launch test drills to confirm the integrity of your backup data. You can verify backup folders without attaching the VM to your Hyper-V or VMware Host, or you can run a complete test restore to a clone and ensure that the restored VM can boot.
  • Backup Health Monitor: Backup storage integrity can be monitored proactively and repaired automatically as part of the next backup process.
Management and Reporting
The web-based Cloud Management Console (CMC) centralizes management, monitoring and reporting for Altaro VM Backup deployments. The CMC provides a single online portal for tasks such as initiating backups, setting up on-premises and offsite backup locations, configuring encryption keys, and restoring VMs. The CMC also saves time by allowing you to set custom templates with schedules, retention policies and advanced settings and assign them to multiple VMs across different hosts. In addition, you can use the CMC to monitor backup activity in real time, view historic reports on operations and errors, and configure the CMC to send email alerts for completed or failed tasks and other useful information.

How Progent Can Help You Benefit from Altaro VM Backup
Progent's Microsoft-certified Windows Server Hyper-V consultants and VMware-certified vSphere and vCenter consultants can help you plan, deploy and manage a backup/restore solution based on Altaro VM Backup. Progent's Exchange consultants can help you integrate Altaro VM Backup with your Exchange environment, and Progent's Azure hybrid cloud consulting specialists can show you how to use your Azure Block Blob storage account with Altaro to protect your VM backups. Progent's Business Continuity consultants can show you how Altaro VM Backup's replication features and offsite backup capability can help safeguard your mission-critical data and enable you to resume your core services quickly in case of a catastrophic event. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance consultants can assess the security profile of your backup solution and can help you deploy the latest tools and follow industry best practices for operating safely in the modern threat landscape.

Other Non-stop Solutions Offered by Progent's Experts
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified engineers can assist you to build an efficient, zero-downtime network that addresses critical problems covering a wide array of networking solutions and processes such as:

Business Continuity Planning
Progent's business continuity planning engineers can help you create a business continuity strategy that will allow you to resume network operations in the event of an IT network catastrophe. Progent can assist you to develop a complete disaster recovery strategy that incorporates periodic disaster recovery evaluations and drills. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-authorized engineers can also help you build an affordable, zero-downtime system architecture that addresses reliability issues involving a wide array of network technologies and processes. To learn more, see Business Continuity Expertise.

Fully Managed Cloud Backup: ProSight Data Protection Services
ProSight Data Protection Services from Progent provide small and mid-sized businesses an affordable end-to-end service for secure backup/disaster recovery (BDR). For a fixed monthly price, ProSight Data Protection Services automates and monitors your backup processes and allows rapid restoration of critical data, applications and VMs that have become unavailable or corrupted as a result of component breakdowns, software glitches, disasters, human mistakes, or malware attacks like ransomware. ProSight Data Protection Services can help you back up, retrieve and restore files, folders, applications, system images, plus Hyper-V and VMware images/. Important data can be protected on the cloud, to a local storage device, or to both. Progent's BDR consultants can deliver advanced support to configure ProSight Data Protection Services to to comply with regulatory requirements like HIPPA, FINRA, PCI and Safe Harbor and, when needed, can help you to restore your business-critical data. Read more about ProSight Data Protection Services Managed Cloud Backup and Recovery.

Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery
Progent's Windows Server 2016 disaster recovery consultants can help your organization to plan and deploy a DR solution based on Microsoft's cloud-tested Failover Clustering tools such as Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade for non-disruptive migration to Windows Server 2016, Storage Replica for zero-data-loss recovery, Storage Spaces Direct for enterprise-class storage clusters using industry-standard hardware, VM Load Balancing for improving the performance and resilience of Failover Clusters while reducing capital investment and operational expenses, and Cloud Witness for easy, affordable deployment of a failover cluster quorum arbitration point. To learn more, go to Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery Expertise.

Microsoft Server 2012 Failover Clustering
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 brought world-class availability and system recovery to Microsoft's failover clustering solution. Windows Server 2012 R2 builds on this foundation and provides significant new and enhanced features that offer increased expandability, better storage uptime for server applications, easier management, faster automatic failover, and more options for architecting clusters. To learn more, go to Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Clustering Integration.

VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Disaster Recovery Solutions
VMware's Site Recovery Manager is a component of VMware vCenter that lets you specify, automate and test a consistent process for restoring applications and services quickly following a breakdown. Site Recovery Manager provides centrally controlled and automated disaster recovery, application mobility, and non-disruptive site relocation, failback and re-protect. SRM also enables non-intrusive testing for site recovery, updates and fixes and can generate reports to confirm complete service recovery, validate SLAs and prove DR compliance. Progent offers the skills of a VCDX certified VMware SRM consultant to assist you to design, configure, test and administer a DR system powered by VMware Site Recovery Manager.

NetApp MetroCluster High Availability and Disaster Recovery Technology
NetApp MetroCluster is a disaster recovery platform that combines array-based storage clustering with replication to provide fast, zero data loss disaster recovery between datacenters located up to 300km apart from each other. Progent can provide online or on-premises access to a NetApp MetroCluster expert who can assist your business to design, deploy, administer, upgrade, test and troubleshoot a disaster recovery system based on NetApp MetroCluster. Progent can assist you to choose an architecture for your MetroCluster deployment that aligns with your technical needs and IT budget. Progent can make sure you adhere to leading practices for installing your MetroCluster solution by providing help with tasks like assigning disk pools, arranging aggregate layout, provisioning FlexVol volumes, setting up Data ONTAP configuration replication service, installing Cisco and Brocade switches, designing a tiebreaker, designing a TCP/IP configuration replication network, and testing your disaster recovery solution to show compliance with information assurance standards and regulatory requirements.

Network Load Balancing
Progent provides high availability load balancing support that addresses system load balancing, load balanced programs, network infrastructure routing, and content delivery technology such as F5 Networks 3DNS. High availability load balancing technologies for which Progent can provide consulting services include Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Network Load Balancing Manager, Citrix Access Suite and Presentation Server, Cisco CSS, Cisco Content Engine and LocalDirector 400 series, and F5 Networks BIG-IP. For details, visit High Availability Load Balancing.

Fault Tolerant Internet Data Centers
Progent's Data Center professionals can help you select fault-tolerant data centers that meet the particular needs of your company. High availability off-site data centers are particularly attractive to small and mid-size organizations due to of their affordability and convenience in comparison to taking a do-it-yourself strategy. Attempting to design an in-house data center that offers even a basic degree of fault tolerance is too expensive for typical small organizations. Progent is ready to show you how to get all the advantages of 24x7 data centers by providing a complete range of consulting and support services. For details, see Non-stop Internet Data Centers Consulting.

24x7 Interoffice Connectivity
Progent’s inter-site connectivity engineers can help businesses create fault tolerant interoffice connections by means of fully redundant system architectures with automatic failover. Progent’s Cisco-certified CCIE network engineers can design and deploy fault-tolerant Inter-office connections supported by non-stop EIGRP network routers or fault tolerant OSPF configurations of Cisco routers. Progent can demonstrate how multi-path connections and transparent fail-over can provide economical non-stop interoffice networking. For details, visit Non-stop Interoffice Networking.

24x7 Internet Connectivity
Progent's Cisco-authorized network consultants can help you design an economical, high availability Internet connection architecture that can deliver non-stop Internet connectivity through a broad array of high availability Internet access solutions including non-stop BGP, automatic fail-over, and multiple ISPs. Progent offers CCIE engineers to show you how to utilize the latest techniques for 24x7 Internet access to implement a cost-effective, completely redundant Internet network with automatic failover and other features to create fault tolerant Internet access. For details, visit High Availability Internet Access Architecture.

Backup and Recovery Technology Consulting
Progent offers economical remote access to consultants skilled in a wide range of utilities and technologies that provide solutions for protecting Windows, Mac, and Linux/UNIX servers and workstations as well as laptops and handhelds. Progent can provide consulting support for leading data protection products such as Acronis, Backup Exec, BackupAssist Software, HP Data Protector, Double-Take, Mozy, Retrospect, Time Machine, vSphere Data Protection, and Solaris FLARs. Progent can assist your company to design, upgrade, or maintain data backup solutions for a variety of environments including local, remote, cloud, or a mix. To read more, visit Backup and Recovery Solutions Consulting.

Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager Backup and Recovery Consultants
Progent's expert Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager engineers can assist you to create an effective workplace recovery plan, implement an affordable high-availability IT architecture, configure a SCDPM-powered backup and restore system, comprehensively test your system, educate your administrative staff or regular service providers how to manage System Center Data Protection Manager, or provide extensive IT outsourcing services such as off-site hosting of Microsoft SCDPM machines in Progent's data center. For more information, see Microsoft SCDPM Consulting and Support Services.

Barracuda Backup Local, Offsite and Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery
Barracuda Backup is an affordable, subscription-based backup and disaster recovery service for small and medium-size organizations. A Barracuda Backup deployment can incorporate a custom-designed physical storage device built by Barracuda or a software-based appliance with comparable features but which uses your existing storage hardware. Barracuda Backup protects vital business data generated locally, at one or multiple remote sites, or in the cloud. For disaster protection, you can replicate data to the Barracuda Cloud, to Amazon AWS, or to any site with a physical or virtual Barracuda Backup appliance. Progent is a certified Barracuda partner and Progent's Barracuda Backup consultants offer a broad array of consulting services to help you to design, configure, operate and repair a BDR solution based on Barracuda Backup. For details, go to Barracuda Backup and disaster recovery consultants.

Consulting for Double-Take Solutions for Backup/Restore
Double-Take offers a selection of products designed to provide small and midsize companies a range of affordable alternatives for backing up and recovering vital workloads such as Microsoft Exchange Server, SQL, Blackberry, and SharePoint. Progent’s disaster recovery planning experts have extensive experience integrating Double-Take Software products into small company IT systems to achieve an advanced state of availability and disaster recovery readiness at a budget-friendly cost. To find out more, visit Consulting Services Double-Take Software for Backup.

CRISC-Certified IT Risk Control
The CRISC certification program was initiated by ISACA to validate a consultant's ability to plan, deploy, and support IS control mechanisms to reduce network risk. Progent can provide the expertise of a CRISC-certified engineer to assist you to develop and carry out a business continuity or disaster recovery plan that follows leading practices promoted by CRISC and crafted to align with your organization's risk appetite, business goals, and budgetary guidelines. To learn more, go to CRISC-Premier IT risk mitigation specialists.

Why Pick Progent for Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Planning Solutions?
Since Progent is a Microsoft Partner and offers high-level application consulting for a wide range of business applications, Progent can help customers to arrive at efficient IT solutions that optimize the business value of your network. As a Registered Partner for Cisco, Progent can provide the expertise of premier consultants and specialists with expertise in designing, deploying and supporting infrastructure solutions based on Cisco products. The depth and breadth of Progent's technical know-how and Progent's familiarity with the requirements of small companies make Progent a great partner for creating and maintaining a cost-effective, high-availability network.

How to Access Progent's Consultants for Disaster Recovery Solutions Support
To ask Progent about consulting help for disaster recovery planning, phone 1-800-993-9400 or see Contact Progent.

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