Turn Your QNAP, Synology, ASUSTOR, WD, or Netgear NAS into a VM Backup Appliance, claiming to improve backup performance by up to 2X and offload your IT infrastructure
It's no secret that I appreciate the simplicity of installing the NAKIVO Backup & Replication appliance in my home's personal datacenter. To get your most precious VMs protected easily and effectively, it takes only about 10 minutes to install and configure the appliance then kick off your first VM backup job, with the simple process demonstrated in my video below.
Some folks may prefer to install NAKIVO on an existing Linux or Windows physical system or VM. Some might instead choose to back up their VMware VMs to a more distant NAS, to lessen the chance of flood or fire taking both out the cluster and the backups in an unfortunate event in home or in a business. Part of what NAKIVO has added with v7.5 is Netgear NASs are now supported too.
Note that I'm not talking about using the backup appliance to back up to an iSCSI or NFS attached NAS (which is an option). Instead, I'm talking about installing the NAKIVO software (with integrated web server) right onto your Linux-based NAS itself, a unique differentiator that NAKIVO offers over competitors.
Regardless of the topology chosen, it's still best to do an off-site backup as well, which NAKIVO also supports, calling the feature Backup Copy Offsite and to Cloud.
Today, NAKIVO made their announcement, with the elements of the announcement most likely to be of interest to the home lab in the excerpts below:
NAKIVO Releases v7.5 with vSphere 6.7 Support and Cross-Platform Recovery
NAKIVO Backup & Replication v7.5 introduces several new features, including Cross-Platform Recovery, Advanced Bandwidth Throttling, support for the latest version of vSphere, and more.
Sparks, NV, United States — August 1, 2018
NAKIVO, Inc., a fast-growing virtualization and cloud backup software company, announced today the release of NAKIVO Backup & Replication v7.5. The latest version supports vSphere 6.7 and adds integration with major storage vendors such as DELL EMC Data Domain and NETGEAR ReadyNAS.
VMware vSphere 6.7 Support: NAKIVO Backup & Replication v7.5 is now officially compatible with the latest version of vSphere, allowing users to seamlessly use NAKIVO Backup & Replication for protection of upgraded VMware environments and benefit from new features that improve backup performance. ... NETGEAR ReadyNAS-Based VM Backup Appliance: NAKIVO Backup & Replication v7.5 can be installed directly on NETGEAR ReadyNAS devices, creating a cost-effective VM backup appliance. The ReadyNAS-based appliance is a 5-in-1 solution featuring backup hardware, software, storage, built-in global data deduplication, and backup-to-cloud functionality. ...
Note that NAKIVO offers NFR (Not For Resale) downloads to many IT Professionals, which I explain here:
If you are a VMUG member, VMware vExpert, VCP, VSP, VTSP, or VCI you can receive a FREE two-socket Not For Resale (NFR) license of NAKIVO Backup & Replication for one year and use it in your home or work lab.
The NFR licenses are available for non-production use only, including educational, lab testing, evaluation, training, and demonstration purposes. This offer ends on March 30, 2018.
Apply here.
The file is currently named: NAKIVO_Backup_Replication_VA_v7.5.0_Full_Solution_NFR.ova
Admittedly, the refreshed UI means my somewhat dated v5.7 deep dive video looks a little different, but the install and initial backup functionality still works much the same with v7.5, which I'm currently planning to test, now that I'm able to move my entire lab to run vSphere 6.7 full time, since I have several VMs that I need to back up on a daily basis.
Full Disclosure: "TinkerTry.com, LLC" is registered as a NAKIVO Bronze Partner, mostly to help get notified of latest news and code releases. I get no special early-access, anybody can sign up for the betas. All TinkerTry site advertising goes through middle-man BuySellAds. NAKIVO does know if you found their affiliate link from my site, which means the possibility of reseller commissions if you eventually upgrade to one of their paid offerings. Here's their pricing.
TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here. Currently consulting while seeking my next employer.
After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop selling them in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. The Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh slightly better in 2024, and hopefully Xeon 6 (Granite Rapids-D) much better in 2025 featuring PCIe Gen5, MCRDIMMs, and 100GbE networking, wow! I'm bummed that Pat Gelsinger was apparently ousted from Intel's helm in these challenging times, but I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when he was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.