Virtual server replication may soon get easier, thanks to NSI Software’s Double-Take for Virtual Systems.
The product, launching next week, allows multiple physical servers to be monitored by, and failover to, a single server running multiple virtual machines. The application data from each server is replicated in real-time to the appropriate virtual machine on the target, reducing hardware costs and increasing efficiency.
“The virtual server market is on fire, so having a many to one replication/failover play is huge,” says Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group. “No one wants to keep running with one physical backup machine for each virtual machine, the economics stink. It’s a no brainer for NSI, and should be well received.”
Virtual servers have a high protection need, with multiple critical workloads on the same server. Double-Take for Virtual Systems provides real-time data protection and high availability within virtual machines, with one license supporting up to five virtual machines on the same host, with pricing starting at $7,995. The licensing scheme could reduce the acquisition costs of data protection for virtual machines by as much as 75%, adding to the cost savings that virtual machines such as VMware provide, NSI says.
Using lower-cost virtual machines as high availability and disaster recovery targets can also make disaster recovery more affordable, the company says.
Dan Jones, NSI’s marketing vice president, says a third of the company’s 10,000 customers are using virtual servers. Bob Roudebush, the company’s director of solutions engineering, says NSI’s offering stands out with its ease of management, affordability and support.
Double-Take for Virtual Systems can be used on several platforms, including VMWare ESX Server and VMWare GSX Server.
