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Nakivo expands Proxmox backup and DR capabilities in v11.1
Latest version of Backup & Replication adds MSP features, plus Proxmox VM backup functionality, while Nakivo responds to critical vulnerability it was tipped off about in February
Backup provider Nakivo has moved to version 11.1 of its Backup & Replication software. Key additions include expanded capabilities in the Proxmox virtualisation environment – an emerging VMware alternative – that include disaster recovery (DR) orchestration. It also adds a much simplified connection to the customer infrastructure for managed service providers (MSPs).
Nakivo also responded to questions about a security vulnerability discovered earlier this year by a third-party security company (see box below).
Nakivo offers backup for virtual machines (VMs) and physical machines, and can protect sources that range from datacentres to edge devices, as well as cloud files and applications. It offers replication and disaster recovery for some environments, with automated failover. All of this is admin-able from a single-pane-of-glass user interface.
According to vice-president for product management Sergei Serdyuk, Nakivo offers data protection at “roughly half the price of competitors” in the backup space.
The company claims 16,000 customers, which include Coca-Cola, Cisco, Siemens, Honda and Radisson, where they are deployed in at least some departments, if not the whole customer environment, according to Serdyuk.
Core among the additions in v11.1 is MSP Direct Connect, which allows service providers to connect to customer environments without the need for open ports and network configuration on the customer side. According to Nakivo, this will allow backup for VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox VMs and physical machines, as well as working with Nakivo’s site recovery feature.
“Providers can install our solution at the customer site. It can connect to the solution installed at the MSP, and basically off they go. This is to simplify and speed up deployments for MSP customers,” said Serdyuk.
Meanwhile, the new version sees expanded Proxmox capabilities. These include the ability to create VM replicas, boot VMs from Nakivo backups, verify backup integrity and recovery readiness, and restore from tape.
Read more about data protection and backup
- Backup technology explained: The fundamentals of enterprise backup. We look at backup and its role in enterprise data protection, including what to backup and how often, RPO and RTO, full and incremental, and if backups can be replaced by snapshots.
- Seven ways to be sure you can restore from backup. Backups are no good if you can’t restore from them. We look at key elements of backup restoration, including backup audits, RPOs and RTOs, and how and when to test backups.
“With the new version, we can create Proxmox VM replicas in the same or different locations,” said Serdyuk. “So, customers can, in case of a disaster, just switch to a replica VM instead of spending time on restore from backup.”
Additionally, Nakivo claims to be the only backup provider that offers disaster recovery for Proxmox environments.
According to Serdyuk, that translates to having in place a site-level workflow that is dependent on replication.
Further additions to the latest version of Nakivo include real-time replication for VMware, which was in beta but is now generally available.
There is also the addition of granular physical backups for Windows and Linux physical machines. This allows for backup of specific files and folders without full backups, and storage of backups in any location, including as copies to comply with 3-2-1 backup plans.
Nakivo responds to critical vulnerability
In February, security testing company Watchtowr discovered a vulnerability in Nakivo that it said allowed unauthenticated access to files on vulnerable devices. In particular, Watchtowr identified the volume of connectors to third-party environments as an opportunity for attack.
Nakivo’s vice-president for product management, Sergei Serdyuk, said the vulnerability was unexploited and was swiftly dealt with by internal teams and later engagement with a third-party security company.
He also said that similar vulnerabilities had been discovered in other backup suppliers’ environments.
“The vulnerability was reported by a third party and was escalated to the development team, who confirmed the issue. We have released the patch that fixed that vulnerability. We’ve done a number of process improvements internally to react to such issues faster,” said Serdyuk.
“We have also started to work with an independent third-party security firm to perform security and penetration testing on our product. We are not aware of any exploits. It was found by the third party and then fixed,” he added.
“That same company decided to target backup companies, and they also found a vulnerability in Veeam and Commvault.”
