While there are over 200 new features, the addition of Continuous Data Projection journaling, the ability to create an immutable Linux repository, and new support for Google Cloud Storage and AWS and Azure archive tiers will likely get the most attention.
v11’s new CDP feature
Today, Veeam Software is announcing the general availability of v11 of their Veeam Backup & Replication data protection solution.
“This is a very significant release for us,” said Danny Allan, Veeam’s CTO. “Last year we had 650,000 downloads of v10, and that’s up to 700k now. Adoption of this platform is staggering, with more than one per minute last year.”
While v11 adds more than 200 enhancements – up from the 150 plus in V10 – there are a couple of major themes among them.
“Veeam continues to iterate and innovate, and V11 extends this in two categories in particular,” Allan stressed. “One is around cloud with the addition of a lot of capabilities, like support for Google Cloud Storage, and archive tiers for long term retention. The second is security, with the addition of things like Continuous Data Protection, and a hardened Linux repository.
The addition of Continuous Data Protection [CDP], something that used to be high end functionality for Tier 1 workloads, but has dropped significantly in price over the last year, adds more precision to replication management.
“We are adding replication management via journaling,” Allan said. “This lets you bring your RPOs down to the second. Our journaling is also built into our core product, so there’s no need for additional licensing or additional complexity.”
The addition of the ability to create a hardened, immutable Linux repository is another major advance, Allan said.
“Like Continuous Data Protection, this improves data protection capabilities without adding cost,” he stated.
v11’s Hardened Linux Repository
“We have had security on the secondary copy for a very long time, including tape and object storage,” but that was the secondary backup copy,” Allan said. “This is the primary backup itself. In the past, you had to buy specific hardware or configure it yourself a certain way to make the primary backup immutable. Now we have added the ability to do this with a checkbox, to make any Linux repository immutable.”
Instant Recovery capability, which was there before, has been expanded in this release.
“We originally patented Instant Recovery with virtual machines,” Allan said. “Now we have added to it in V11 with two specific types of backup. We have added NAS file share backup. Before, it could could take a day or more to recover this. We have also added instant recovery of databases, both SQL Server and Oracle. This allows you to recover a specific database, without having to recover the whole virtual machine.”
v11’s new Instant Database Recovery feature
On the cloud front, the support for Google Cloud Storage as a cloud storage backup is a complete net-new.
“On object storage, we currently support Azure Blob and AWS S3 and 23 others who use their APIs,” Allan said. “Adding Google Cloud Storage provides more choice.”
Adding support for the AWS S3 Glacier and Azure Archive archiving tiers is also a net-new.
“These are different APIs, which is why they had not been there before,” Allan said. “They are an important add because the archiving tiers can be up to 20x less expensive.”
Support has also been extended to Macs, with Veeam Agent for Mac, joining existing Veeam Agents for Microsoft Windows, Linux, IBM AIX and Oracle Solaris.
“This was a case of good timing,” Allan said. “We actually began working on this before the pandemic began, but it became a very hot item after the Work From Home market took off.”
Veeam-powered BaaS and DRaaS services have been enhanced.
“We have 10,000 Cloud Service Provider partners who have been offering these,” Allan said. “In conjunction with v11, we are also releasing v5 of Veeam Service Provider Console, which integrates with Veeam Backup and Replication.” V5 also features expanded backup management for Linux and Mac, monitoring of cloud-native AWS and Azure backups and enhanced security with multi-factor authentication and insider protection services.
Veeam Backup & Replication v11 will be available for download today, and will be included in the Veeam Universal License [VUL] model.Veeam customers can choose to receive an additional 25 VUL licenses for six months at no additional cost to be used for AWS and Azure-native backup and recovery when upgrading to V11.
