Dell Extends Data Protection for Kubernetes to the Cloud

Dell Technologies has extended the level of support for Kubernetes provided by its PowerProtect Data Manager software to include the Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Azure Kubernetes and the VMware Tanzu platforms.

Rob Emsley, director of marketing for Dell data protection, says along with protecting Kubernetes clusters running on on-premises environments, organizations want to make sure Kubernetes clusters running in the cloud are also backed up in the event they are unavailable for any reason.

In addition, PowerProtect Data Manager has been extended to support open source PostgreSQL and Apache Cassandra databases deployed on top of Kubernetes clusters.

Designed around an agentless approach to backup and recovery, PowerProtect Data Manager can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud. The management console for PowerProtect Data Manager is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) application.

Rather than acquiring a separate data protection platform for the Kubernetes platform, Dell is making a case for extending an approach already widely employed to backup virtual machines. Dell also added tighter integrations with VMware vCenter Storage Policy Based Management software to make it easier to extend existing data protection policies to Kubernetes platforms.

Dell also added its Dell EMC PowerProtect DP series appliances to make available up to 30% more logical capacity, 38% faster backups and 45% quicker restores. Dell’s PowerProtect Cyber Recovery offering has also become the first on-premises data vault platform to be endorsed by Sheltered Harbor, a not-for-profit industry organization dedicated to enhancing cyber resiliency in the financial sector.

Emsley says PowerProtect Data Manager can be accessed via an existing graphical user interface (GUI) or a REST application programming interface (API) that can be invoked as part of a DevOps workflow.

In general, Dell has been extending its support for Kubernetes in tandem with a push by its VMware arm to establish VMware Tanzu as a development and deployment platform for cloud-native applications based on Kubernetes.

Competition among providers of data protection platforms has always been fierce, but as mainstream adoption of Kubernetes continues, a new front in one of the oldest battles in IT is opening. A wave of startup vendors focused on data protection in Kubernetes environments has risen to challenge incumbents that are moving to either extend the reach of their existing platforms or outright acquire smaller startups.

Regardless of the path chosen, there is suddenly no shortage of data protection options at a time when the number of stateful applications deployed on Kubernetes clusters is increasing. Each IT organization will need to decide how best to proceed. It’s historically not been uncommon for IT organizations to employ multiple data protection platforms. However, in the current economic climate brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, many IT teams are being encouraged to extend existing investment rather than acquire new platforms.

Of course, there are plenty of greenfield Kubernetes environments where there is no data protection incumbent, so there’s still plenty of room for startups that have developed a data protection platform that natively runs only on Kubernetes.

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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