What’s New in Data Protection at HPE and Zerto: Updates and Releases for Q1 2024
In my Q4 2023 updates blog post in December, I talked about some of the exciting new data protection updates from HPE and Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. Now it’s time to fill you in on what is new for Q1 2024. I’m pleased to share some exciting updates to Zerto, HPE GreenLake for Disaster Recovery, and HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery.
Zerto: What’s new in Q1
New Linux-Based Zerto Cloud Appliances for AWS
Previously, I told you about a new Linux-based Virtual Replication Appliance (VRA) for AWS. This was a new appliance in addition to the existing Windows-based Zerto Cloud Appliance with an architecture more closely resembling the Zerto for VMware architecture. Zerto has now made available new Linux-based Zerto Cloud Appliances for AWS, which we previously did for Azure. This new Linux-based appliance architecture is more secure, with less management required by the administrator, and allows Zerto to update the appliances automatically, including the operating system.
Faster RTO when failing over to AWS
Zerto is now deploying VMs with IO2 volume types when failing over to improve the speed of recovery. The resulting RTOs have been seen to have an average of a 25% faster recovery time as a result of deploying the IO2 volume type for recovery. The IO2 volume types are modified after recovery to limit the IO and reduce the cost to be equivalent with IO1 volume types, so there is no increased cost within AWS. IO2 volumes are not available in every region, but Zerto will deploy these volume types for recovery where they are available.
Updates to the Zerto Virtual Manager Appliance now available offline
To enhance security, not every data center needs to be or should be online. These offline sites are often referred to as dark sites and have requirements for offline updates. To support those environments, you can now update the Zerto Virtual Manager Appliance completely offline within dark sites.
Auto-preparation of Linux VMs in Azure
To make both failover and migrations of Linux VMs more seamless, the Zerto Cloud Appliance on Azure now supports automatic setup of the relevant drivers and network settings to ensure successful failover and re-IP to Azure platform for RHEL/CentOS 7.x-9.x. OSs. Administrators will no longer be required to run Azure Zerto Tools scripts on the protected VMs to prep them.
vSphere tags preserved on VM moves between vCenters
Believe it or not, this wasn’t as simple as it might sound, but now Zerto will preserve vSphere tags on VMs when they migrate between vCenter environments. This resolves issues where tags could change during moves, and the tags will now be preserved when moving to and from vCenter environments.
Full tag support in Zerto In-Cloud for AWS
AWS EC2 tags on instances are now fully supported and preserved when failed over and back between regions in AWS. Managed with AWS, VMs maintain full integrity with all the supported tags as they move.
HPE GreenLake for Disaster Recovery: What’s new in Q1
Management Updates
One of the key benefits of HPE GreenLake for Disaster Recovery is its ability to manage protection globally across all computing environments. Q1 brings us new updates to enhance those management capabilities within the Data Services Cloud Console.
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- Manage network settings for VMs directly in the console to configure networking for VMs when they failover into different subnets, including the ability to assign new IP addresses.
- Configure the recovery journal history at recovery sites directly from the console to modify them as needed for virtual protection groups (VPGs). This gives the ability to better manage the amount of recovery data stored and the amount of recovery points available.
Subscription Updates
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- Subscriptions for up to 750 protected VMs. If you require a subscription for more than 750 VMs, please let us know.
- Subscriptions now have the option to be billed monthly to align with other monthly subscriptions available on the HPE GreenLake platform.
HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery: What’s new in Q1
Protection of Microsoft SQL Server database
In my last blog, I talked about new Microsoft SQL Server database support on VMware VMs. HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery now protects Microsoft SQL Server databases running on physical servers and storage arrays managed through the Data Services Cloud Console (DSCC). It is now easier than ever to register new hosts and Microsoft SQL Server databases to HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery. You can enable protection individually on each protected host or database or as part of a protection group.
Enhancements to Volume Protection
I’ve got two enhancements to talk about here.
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- HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery offers volume protection, a fast and efficient way to protect the contents of the target volume provisioned from DSCC-managed storage. Leveraging snapshots and replicas, configured using the Data Ops Manager, now enables users to back up their workloads directly from HPE Alletra Storage MP.
- Adding custom scripts to the Volume Protection process is now available and can be before or after snapshot creation. This enables the protected application to be made “backup ready” before and after any volume protection snapshot operations occur.
Extending long term retention capability
HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery now allows users to retain their backups for up to 10 years! This ensures access when needed to your most critical applications and data for compliance or recovery.
Application-centric backup designed for rapid recovery
An application is not made up of just one virtual machine (VM). That is why HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery makes it easy to protect VMs at scale by organizing them into Protection Groups. These Protection Groups enable users to apply a protection policy to multiple VMs or datastores in a single operation. For fast and efficient recovery, some or all of the VMs in a Protection Group can be recovered in a single operation.
Air-Gapped recovery management
HPE GreenLake for Backup and Recovery now enables users to restore backups from an on-premises location in the event of a disconnection from the internet or the cloud console. This capability is a necessary layer of security, particularly while offline and recovering from a crippling ransomware attack.
What’s next?
As we look forward to Q2 and beyond, I will continue to keep you apprised of updates. Zerto is going to continue building upon the industry-leading technologies we are known for as we integrate into the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform and continue adding new capabilities that help Zerto scale to meet the needs of ransomware resilience, disaster recovery, and multi-cloud mobility. In the technology landscape of ever-growing data, hybrid cloud complexity, and emerging AI capabilities, HPE and Zerto are working hard to continue leading the fight against threats that disrupt digital services and safeguard your data and applications from downtime and loss.
Don’t miss our upcoming webinar!
Make plans to join us on March 21: Spring Into Resilience: What’s New in Data Protection at HPE and Zerto in CY24-Q1
Otherwise, for more specific questions about these new updates, simply get in touch or request a demo.
David Paquette 
