Some weeks ago Altaro released the new version of the software backup solution Altaro VM Backup 7.6 for Hyper-V and VMware environments introducing new features such as CDP, GFS, and CBT v2 improving the backup performance.
New version brings also some enhancements and bug fixes to make backups faster, affordable with high performance.
What's new
Main features introduced with the new release are CDP, GFS, and CBT v2.
Continuous Data Protection (CDP)
Altaro VM Backup 7.6 provides now the users to adjust the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of up to 5 minutes. With CDP enabled, every five minutes critical VMs are backed up ensuring that only few minutes are lost in case of a data loss scenario.
With CDP enabled, the RPO is dramatically reduced and optimized to up to 5 minutes instead of hours of data loss faced running daily backups.
To enable CDP, from the Dashboard go to Setup > CDP Settings and tick the Enable CDP option for the VM where CDP is required.
Currently CDP is only available for Hyper-V platform and it will become available for VMware in the next release.
Update: Version 7.6 Build 7.6.24 adds support for Continuous Data Protection (CDP) to VMware Hypervisors.
Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) archiving
The new version introduces GFS, allowing the separation of backup cycles to store a new backup version every week, every month and every year. Users can now choose to archive the backup versions over and above their continuous and daily backups instead of deleting them (local backups only).
Normal Retention Policy:
- High frequency CDP Backups for 4 hours
- A maximum of one backup an hour until the Retention Policy ends
With GFS archiving enabled, Altaro VM Backup also keeps the following backups:
- 1 backup per week for 12 weeks
- 1 backup per month for 12 months
- 1 backup per year for 2 years
GFS archiving is enabled from Setup > Retention Policy section. Click Add New button.
Choose GFS from the pull-down menu.
CBT v2 for Windows Server 2012/2012 R2
Changed Block Tracking (CBT) allows to speed up incremental backups since only the blocks that have changed are backed up, rather than backing up every block of every VM in the infrastructure.
Version 7.6 addresses an issue in Altaro VM Backup 7 CBT for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 where CBT is disabled and a full scan for changes is required in the following scenarios:
- Altaro VM Backup or one of the Hyper-V host agents is updated
- Altaro VM Backup services or one of the Hyper-V host agents is restarted
- A Hyper-V host is restarted
- A virtual machine on a Failover Cluster migrates between nodes
With the new release 7.6 a full scan is no longer required.
Concurrent Retention, Restore, Backup and Offsite Copy operations on the same VM
Previously only one operation could be performed on a VM at the same time. With VM Backup 7.6 users can restore and take Offsite Copies without delaying any scheduled or CDP backups whether scheduled or CDP.
Upgrade to VM Backup 7.6
Before proceeding with the installation of version 7.6, previous VM Backup versions must be uninstalled. All settings are retained and made available during the installation of the new version.
Remove old version
Access the Altaro Server and open the Command Prompt. Navigate to the Altaro directory and run the following commands:
C:\Program Files\Altaro\Altaro Backup> REMOVEALTARO.cmd
When the wizard open, click Next to proceed.
Click Remove to unistall previous Altaro VM Backup version.
Click Remove to start the removal procedure.
The application is being removed from the system. Keep in mind configuration is retained.
Click Finish to exit the wizard.
Install new version
Download VM Backup 7.6 from Altaro website and run the installer. Click Next to begin installation.
Accept the EULA and click Next.
Leave default location and click Next.
Click Install to begin the installation.
The application is being installed.
Click Finish to exit the wizard.
The Altaro VM Backup Dashboard.
Altaro is constantly adding new features to VM Backup making the product easier to use and providing a good backup solution option for data protection and DR.
Altaro VM Backup 7.6 is available as free 30-day trial. After 30-days you get 2 VMs for free, forever.
