Zmanda, a provider of open source backup and recovery software, has announced Zmanda Backup Appliance (ZBA), a pre-configured virtual backup server powered by SUSE Linux Enterprise Server which the vendor says runs on VMware Server, vSphere4, ESX, and ESXi. ZBA is intended to enable IT organizations to install a backup and recovery solution for heterogeneous desktops and servers, and backs up data to local disks, tape drives or clouds. Zmanda developed the ZBA solution as part of the SUSE Appliance Program, a business and technology program that was created to help ISVs build, configure and go to market with software and virtual appliances.
ZBA is designed to simplify the backup and recovery process, thus freeing IT professionals to focus on higher level functions, explains Chander Kant, chief executive officer of Zmanda. "The backup-and-recovery process remains ad hoc, cumbersome and complex. ZBA takes the guesswork out of choosing the right backup solution because it is easy to implement, feature rich and allows businesses and government organizations the flexibility to save data both locally and to a storage cloud."
ZBA is relatively easy to install and does not require users to figure out package dependencies prior to installing the software, according to Zmanda. ZBA is compatible with all other Zmanda backup clients, agents and options. It is managed through the Zmanda Management Console running on a browser. ZBA places no limitation on the amount of data that can be backed up to disk, tape or storage clouds, and is shipped in Open Virtualization Format (OVF) and VMX format. Go here for more information.