CloudCasa by Catalogic Embraces Velero Data Protection Platform

CloudCasa by Catalogic today announced it has integrated its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for protecting Kubernetes data with Velero, an open source software project that is used to protect data on a local Kubernetes cluster.

Sathya Sankaran, general manager for CloudCasa, says CloudCasa for Velero makes it possible to centrally manage instances of Velero running on multiple clusters using the CloudCasa by Catalogic SaaS platform.

Velero enables IT teams to back up and migrate Kubernetes resources and persistent volumes and will be available for free for up to 15 Kubernetes worker nodes. Pricing for the baseline tier for the service starts at $199 per month.

In addition to centrally managing instances of Velero, an IT team can leverage CloudCasa to execute guided recoveries from both existing and new recovery points, perform cross-cloud recoveries and address enterprise management, governance and compliance requirements, says Sankaran.

Sankaran adds that the integration with Velero is made possible because the Container Storage Interface (CSI) created for Kubernetes is now stable and robust enough to support Kubernetes clusters that are increasingly being used to run stateful applications.

Kubernetes was originally designed to run stateless applications that access data outside the cluster. But as the platform has evolved, more organizations are finding a need to process and analyze data at the point where it is created and consumed on a Kubernetes cluster. As the amount of data running on those clusters increases, the need to protect that data becomes a more critical requirement, notes Sankaran.

Many IT organizations are also employing data protection platforms like CloudCasa to move data between Kubernetes clusters spanning multiple cloud computing and on-premises IT environments, he adds.

It’s still relatively early days as far as the deployment of stateful applications on Kubernetes is concerned, but as more data is stored on the cluster itself, the more likely it becomes those clusters will be targeted for ransomware attacks. The only effective defense against those attacks is to make sure a pristine copy of data can be accessed in the event local data running on those clusters becomes encrypted.

Regardless of the reason for deploying a data protection platform, IT teams are starting to find themselves managing fleets of Kubernetes clusters running stateful applications. Many of those clusters are being deployed at the network edge, so finding a way to centrally manage backup and recovery for those instances of Kubernetes is a challenge. CloudCasa by Catalogic is making a case for using Velero to back up data locally in a way that makes it simpler to move that data into a cloud computing environment from which it can be recovered. That approach makes it simpler to locally restore data, but should that data become corrupted or unavailable for some reason, there is an additional copy readily available.

It’s not exactly clear whether DevOps teams or IT administrators will ultimately be responsible for data protection in Kubernetes environments. But the one thing that is certain is that, should data be lost, everyone involved will be held to account.

Mike Vizard

Mike Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist with over 25 years of experience. He also contributed to IT Business Edge, Channel Insider, Baseline and a variety of other IT titles. Previously, Vizard was the editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise as well as Editor-in-Chief for CRN and InfoWorld.

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