EsXpress v3.5 Enhances Enterprise Management Features

Includes multi-user deployment and configuration application, file-level restore, built-in incremental replication, date-smart dynamic exports

Note: ESJ’s editors carefully choose vendor-issued press releases about new or upgraded products and services. We have edited and/or condensed this release to highlight key features but make no claims as to the accuracy of the this vendor's statements.

PHD Virtual Technologies has released esXpress version 3.5 with enhanced functionality for enterprise management. The update features a multi-user global deployment and configuration application, advanced block-and-file-level backup, and source-side global data de-duplication across the entire ESX farm. EsXpress v3.5 uses the virtual environment to back up itself without requiring additional hardware or software, making it a scalable and cost-effective VMware backup solution.

To deliver backup and recovery using the virtual environment itself, esXpress v3.5 uses virtual back-up appliances (VBAs) -- small virtual machines -- that can be deployed quickly on a VMware ESX server to autonomously conduct hot full or “virtual full” backups of virtual machines. EsXpress VBAs operate outside of the ESX console, leveraging a virtual appliance architecture and an innovative disk-throttling technique so that backups run during business hours with no impact on virtual machine performance on the ESX server. EsXpress v3.5 supports VMware v3 and v3.5 and will support vSphere4 soon after its availability.

EsXpress supports up to 16 concurrent backup streams per ESX host and the resulting backups can be self-restored without using esXpress or other virtual machine infrastructure. EsXpress backs up virtual disks at the block level, backing up incremental data only that is de-duplicated at the source before being sent to one or more local and/or remote storage targets simultaneously.

The new esXpress v3.5 offers the following additional features:

  • Multi-user global deployment and configuration application featuring hierarchical, policy-driven configuration to significantly reduce deployment time
  • Source-side global de-duplication across the entire ESX farm to greatly reduce LAN traffic and disk space usage (patent pending)
  • Multi-user, file-level restore for instant access to compressed data
  • Built-in incremental replication that can replicate newly changed blocks and inject them directly to into the replicated virtual machine
  • Date-smart dynamic export with pre-defined date-based directories, providing critical flexibility in deciding what data is exported to a choice of tape or disk

“esXpress v3.5 builds on our promise of helping companies realize the great potential of virtual infrastructures – to simplify IT by reducing hardware and removing costs,” said Joe Julian, executive chairman of PHD Virtual. “With this release, data de-duplication becomes a reality, greatly reducing network load which typically slows performance of the virtual enterprise. By leveraging the new Web-based management console and esXpress v3.5’s central hierarchical configuration capabilities, enterprises are easily able to deploy and manage data protection eliminating the complexity and cost associated with traditional solutions.”

Available now, esXpress v3.5 pricing starts at $1,000 per host for four concurrent back-up streams. More information and a downloadable trial version are available at http://www.phdvirtual.com/products/esxpress-virtual-backup.

Must Read Articles