Druva introduced the inSync 4.1 Enterprise edition of its backup software today, which is designed specifically for protecting “endpoint” data (e.g., mobile or remote devices such as laptops).
Company officials cite a number of interesting statistics relating to backing up laptops. For example, data on the edge is doubling every 18 months; 50% of enterprise workers are remote or mobile; and 28% of corporate data resides on laptops, according to Gartner. However, only 35% of laptops are backed up on a regular basis, according to the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). And 17% of laptops that lose data can’t be recovered, and the cost of a lost unprotected laptop is $49,000, according to research from Microsoft and Intel, respectively.
inSync is an alternative to “legacy” server backup software, cloud backup, and standalone backup approaches such as backing up to a USB drive or a NAS share.
Jaspreet Singh, Druva’s CEO and co-founder, contends that server backup vendors have tacked on laptop backup as an afterthought, or don’t even offer laptop-optimized backup solutions. And he argues that the drawbacks to cloud-based backup are that it lacks centralized control by IT and that users still have security and compliance concerns with the cloud.
Singh cites inSync 4.1 Enterprise’s ease of use, claiming that users can deploy the client software in less than 20 minutes, but the keys to the software’s differentiation may lie in its approaches to data deduplication and WAN optimization.
Druva’s inSync is based on global, source-based deduplication that is application-aware. The company claims that its data deduplication can save 90% in bandwidth and storage capacity (and costs), while maintaining 100% accuracy.
The backup software also includes the Octopus WAN Optimization Engine, which Singh claims can provide 5X faster backups over WANs, versus traditional backup software, by optimizing packet sizes and leveraging multiple threads (up to 16 parallel connections). A Smart Bandwidth Throttling feature enable administrator to set specific limitations on the percentage of WAN bandwidth, LAN bandwidth or CPU usage.
Another component of inSync is the Blackbird Storage Engine, which provides “near” continuous data protection (CDP), the deduplication file system, distributed caching, and support for solid-state disk (SSD) drives, which can be used for metadata.
inSync Enterprise Server runs on commodity hardware and supports up to 2,000 laptops. Supported server platforms include Windows and Linux (physical and virtual) and supported clients include Windows, Linux and Mac.
Pricing for inSync 4.1 Enterprise starts at $40 per client.
iPad and iPhone applications will be available by the end of the month.
