DELHI, INDIA: Implementing a comprehensive data protection strategy within a small and medium business (SMB) can seem both daunting and time consuming.  The task is challenging because files, applications, databases, email and networked devices must all be protected to ensure business continuity and compliance.  Data protection can be time consuming because as a business matures and grows, the volume of data increases and newer and more complex data retention requirements are introduced.

Zmanda, the leader in open source backup and recovery software, today announced the general availability of Zmanda Cloud Backup (ZCB), a cost-effective and easy-to-use solution for SMBs that need data backup and disaster recovery for Microsoft Exchange and SQL Servers. ZCB is different and more cost-effective than other online backup solutions because it backs up the entire Windows environment to a public storage cloud such as the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).

"System administrators who work within SMBs have extraordinary demands placed on them," said Henry Baltazar, storage analyst at the industry analyst company The 451 Group.  “While adequate data protection is of course critical for SMBs, simplicity, ease of use and reliability are equally important. That's why we believe SMBs will increasingly turn to secure off site, cloud-based backup and recovery services such as Zmanda Cloud Backup to protect their business critical applications and data."

ZCB is a simple GUI-based backup solution that allows Windows users to easily automate their backup and recovery process. This robust yet simple-to-use solution provides ongoing protection against disaster, user error and theft. Once ZCB is installed on the Windows machine and the backup process is set using its simple scheduler, ZCB automatically backs up files, applications, databases, networked devices and Windows system state, including Active Directory, to Amazon S3.

The management console allows system administrators to schedule the extraction of backup data from live applications and the upload of backup archives to the storage cloud independently, thus reducing the burden of backup operations on production applications and WAN bandwidth. ZCB can also be used to protect either a physical or a virtual Windows machine. The backups are stored in a native Windows format, giving users the option to access and reuse their files even without ZCB.
 
“Zmanda Cloud Backup is the most complete Windows-based cloud backup solution on the market,” said Chander Kant, CEO, Zmanda. “It’s an affordable, pay-as-you-grow solution that provides users with the reassurance that backups of their applications and data are stored off site, yet available anytime from anywhere with Internet access.”

Amazon S3 gives users access to the same highly scalable, reliable, fast, inexpensive data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites. The service aims to maximize benefits of scale and to pass those benefits on to end users. ZCB allows Windows system administrators to encrypt or compress data before transferring to Amazon S3. This assures highest level of security of sensitive data, as well as optimal use of bandwidth and storage.