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 High Availability Technologies Supported by Progent's Consultants
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified consultants can help your company to build a sensible, zero-downtime IT architecture that addresses key problems covering a broad array of infrastructure technologies and processes such as:

Workplace Recovery Planning
Progent's disaster recovery consultants can help you create a disaster recovery strategy that will allow you to resume network functionality in case of an information network disaster. Progent can assist you to create a complete disaster recovery plan that incorporates periodic disaster recovery evaluations and testing. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified consultants can also help you build an affordable, high-availability system solution that addresses availability issues covering a broad array of network technologies and procedures. To read more, see Disaster Recovery Consulting Services.

Managed Cloud Backup: ProSight Data Protection Services
ProSight Data Protection Services provide small and mid-sized organizations a low cost end-to-end solution for secure backup/disaster recovery. For a fixed monthly cost, ProSight Data Protection Services automates and monitors your backup processes and allows fast recovery of vital files, apps and VMs that have become lost or damaged as a result of component breakdowns, software bugs, natural disasters, human mistakes, or malicious attacks such as ransomware. ProSight Data Protection Services can help you back up, retrieve and restore files, folders, apps, system images, plus Hyper-V and VMware virtual machine images. Critical data can be backed up on the cloud, to a local storage device, or to both. Progent's cloud backup consultants can provide world-class expertise to configure ProSight Data Protection Services to be compliant with government and industry regulatory standards such as HIPPA, FIRPA, and PCI and, whenever needed, can assist you to restore your business-critical data. Read more about ProSight DPS Managed Cloud Backup.

Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Progent's Windows Server 2016 disaster recovery/business continuity experts can help you to plan and deploy a disaster recovery solution based on Microsoft's cloud-tested Failover Clustering tools including Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade for non-disruptive migration to Windows Server 2016, Storage Replica for crash-consistent recovery, Storage Spaces Direct for enterprise-class network-attached storage using low-cost equipment, VM Load Balancing for enhancing the speed and resilience of Failover Clusters while minimizing capital investment and management overhead, and Cloud Witness for fast, affordable deployment of a failover cluster quorum arbitration point. To learn more, visit Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Expertise.

Windows Server 2012 Failover Clustering
Windows Server 2008 R2 brought enterprise-class fault tolerance and system recovery to Microsoft's failover clustering platform. Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 adds to this technology and provides significant new and enhanced features offering more extensibility, non-stop disk storage availability for server applications, streamlined management, faster failover, and more flexibility for architecting failover clusters. To find out more, visit Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Clustering Migration and Support.

VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Disaster Recovery Solutions
VMware's Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is an extension to VMware vCenter that lets you define, automate and test a repeatable runbook for restoring applications and services quickly following a breakdown. SRM provides centrally managed and automated disaster recovery, application mobility, and transparent site relocation, failback and site re-protect. Site Recovery Manager also enables transparent testing for site recovery, upgrades and fixes and can generate audit reports to confirm complete service restoration, validate Service Level Agreements and prove DR compliance. Progent can provide the skills of a VCDX certified VMware Site Recovery Manager consultant to help your organization to design, deploy, test and maintain a disaster recovery solution based on VMware SRM.

NetApp MetroCluster Disaster Recovery Software
NetApp MetroCluster is a high-availability and disaster recovery platform that combines array-based storage clustering with replication to deliver fast, zero data loss disaster recovery (DR) between datacenters located as far as 185 miles (300km) apart. Progent offers online or on-premises access to a certified NetApp MetroCluster expert who can help your business to design, configure, manage, upgrade, test and repair a disaster recovery solution based on NetApp MetroCluster. Progent can assist you to select an architecture for your MetroCluster environment that aligns with your functional requirements and IT budget. Progent can ensure you follow leading practices for installing your MetroCluster solution by delivering guidance with procedures such as assigning disk pools, determining aggregate and plexes layout, setting up FlexVol volumes, setting up NetApp Snapshot, provisioning Cisco and Brocade switches, implementing a tiebreaker mechanism, setting up a configuration replication network between your storage clusters, and verifying your MetroCluster disaster recovery system to show adherence with information assurance standards and government mandates.

High Availability Load Balancing
Progent provides high availability load balancing consulting that addresses system load balancing, load balanced applications, LAN/WAN infrastructure routing, and content delivery products such as Cisco Content Engine. High availability load balancing solutions for which Progent offers consulting services include Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Network Load Balancing Manager, Citrix Access Suite and Presentation Server, Cisco CSS, Cisco Content Distribution Manager and Cisco CDN Software, and F5 Networks BIG-IP. To read more, go to High Availability Load Balancing.

Zero Downtime Internet Data Centers
Progent's Data Center professionals can show you how to select fault-tolerant data centers that meet the specific needs of your company. Fault tolerant Internet Data Centers are especially appealing to small and mid-size organizations because of their affordability and convenience compared to taking a do-it-yourself strategy. Attempting to design an on-site data center with even a minimum degree of fault tolerance is too costly for typical small companies. Progent can show you how to reap all the benefits of high-availability colo centers by providing a full array of consulting and maintenance services. To find out more, go to Non-stop Internet Data Centers Expertise.

Failsafe Branch Office Connectivity
Progent’s interoffice connectivity professionals can help companies achieve fault tolerant branch office connections via redundant system architectures with transparent failover. Progent’s Cisco-premier CCIE network engineers can plan and implement ultra-reliable Inter-office connections based on fault tolerant EIGRP network routers or fault tolerant OSPF deployment of Cisco routers. Progent can demonstrate how redundant connectivity and transparent fail-over offers affordable non-stop interoffice connectivity. For more information, go to High-Availability Inter-office Connectivity.

24x7 Internet Connections
Progent's Cisco-certified IT engineers can help you build an economical, high availability Internet configuration solution that can achieve non-stop Internet access through a broad range of high availability Internet network technologies including fault tolerant BGP, automatic fail-over, and redundant ISPs. Progent offers CCIE engineers to show you how to apply the most advanced technology for high availability Internet connectivity to create an economical, completely redundant Internet interface with automatic failover and other features to deliver fault tolerant Internet access. To learn more, see High Availability Internet Access Solutions.

Backup and Recovery Solutions Consulting Services
Progent offers affordable online support from engineers with expertise in a wide range of utilities and services that deliver solutions for backing up Windows, Apple Mac, and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops plus notebooks and smartphones. Progent offers consulting support for all major data protection products such as Acronis, Symantec Backup Exec, BackupAssist Software, HP Data Protector, Double-Take Software, MozyPro, Retrospect for Macintosh, Apple Time Machine, VMware Data Recovery, and Oracle Solaris FLARs. Progent's consultants can help your company to install, enhance, or troubleshoot backup/restore systems for a range of architectures including on-premises, remote, cloud-based, or a mix. To learn more, visit Backup and Recovery Technology Consulting Services.

Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) Data Recovery Consulting Experts
Progent's expert System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) engineers can help your company to develop a practical workplace recovery plan, design a cost-effective high-availability network infrastructure, deploy a SCDPM-powered recovery system, comprehensively test your DPM system, educate your IT personnel or local consultants how to manage Microsoft SCDPM, or provide extensive information technology support outsourcing including remote hosting of virtual or physical SCDPM machines in Progent's world-class data center facility. For details, visit Microsoft SCDPM Consulting Services.

Barracuda Backup Cloud and Offsite Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
Barracuda Backup is an affordable, subscription-based backup/restore service for small and mid-size organizations. A Barracuda Backup solution can include a custom-designed hardware appliance manufactured by Barracuda or a virtual appliance with similar features but which utilizes your existing storage infrastructure. Barracuda Backup protects critical company data produced locally, at one or multiple remote sites, or in the cloud. For disaster recovery, 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 Barracuda partner and Progent's Barracuda Backup consultants can provide a broad array of consulting support services to help your business to plan, configure, manage and troubleshoot a BDR solution based on Barracuda technology. For additional information, go to Barracuda Backup and disaster recovery consulting and management.

Consulting for Double-Take Software for Data Backup
Double-Take Software publishes a selection of tools intended to deliver small and midsize businesses a variety of affordable solutions for backing up and restoring vital workloads such as Microsoft Exchange Server, SQL Server, RIM Blackberry, and Microsoft Office SharePoint. Progent’s business continuity planning experts have extensive experience incorporating Double-Take Software technology into small company information networks to create an advanced level of availability and disaster recovery capability at a budget-friendly price. For details, go to Consulting Services Double-Take Solutions for Backup.

CRISC-Certified Network Risk Mitigation
The CRISC program was initiated by ISACA to verify a consultant's ability to design, deploy, and maintain information system controls to reduce risk. Progent can provide the expertise of a CRISC-certified engineer to assist your company to create and carry out a business continuity or disaster recovery strategy based on industry best practices promoted by CRISC and geared to align with your organization's risk appetite, business objectives, and budgetary guidelines. For more information, visit CRISC-Premier network risk control specialists.

Why Pick Progent for Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Planning?
Since Progent is a Microsoft Partner and provides high-level application consulting for a broad range of business applications, Progent can help clients to find comprehensive IT solutions that maximize the productivity of your network. As a Registered Partner with Cisco, Progent can provide the services of premier consultants and specialists with experience in designing, installing and maintaining infrastructure solutions built on Cisco technology. The breadth of Progent's technical experience and Progent's appreciation for the needs of small businesses make Progent the perfect partner for building and maintaining an affordable, fault-tolerant network.

How You Can Get in Touch with Progent's Engineers for Disaster Recovery Solutions Support
If you wish to contact Progent about consulting assistance for workplace recovery solutions, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.

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