Asigra Simplifies Backing Up to the Cloud

Asigra, a provider of backup and recovery software as a service, is introducing a Cloud API that integrates its Hybrid Cloud Backup and Recovery solution with several major commoditized cloud service providers.

Leveraging the API, users can integrate Hybrid Cloud Backup with cloud storage services including Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network, Google GDrive, Rackspace Cloud, and Yahoo Scalable Storage and Delivery Services.

In addition, Asigra users can leverage this enhanced platform support to perform cost-efficient, long-term data retention with the backup lifecycle management (BLM) capabilities of Hybrid Cloud Backup. BLM allows users to align the value of backup data with the appropriate storage medium, creating a tiered storage approach. Operationally critical data, which requires more attention and frequent backups, can be shifted to high-performance cloud storage services, while less critical data can be stored in mass-market data storage pools.

Cloud data backup already offers users several advantages over traditional data backup, including cross-platform interoperability, client/vault scalability, the ability to work with commodity storage, pay-as-you-go utility pricing, and data and application portability. Asigra intends to extend these advantages even further with its Cloud API, enabling simple connectivity of an organization’s backup infrastructure to third-party cloud storage pools. With its BLM capabilities, Asigra also allows users to automatically assign data to different tiers based on rules, such as data age, redundancy requirements, relevance, and recovery time objectives.

Not all data is created equal. Some data needs to be available at a moment’s notice without fail, while other data may be acceptably stored in a manner where it is not as immediately accessible. Being able to automatically tier data according to preset rules and then place it in the most appropriate backup situation, combined with the operational and cost efficiencies of cloud computing, is a strong value proposition for enterprise data storage customers.