Disaster recovery and data protection software developer Paragon Software Group (PSG) is reaching out to businesses struggling with inadequate data protection infrastructure with Drive Backup 11, the latest iteration of its backup and recovery software platform.

The software, available in three editions, DB 11 Workstation, DB 11 Server and DB 11 Small Business Server, offers encrypted backup with password protection for enhanced security, asynchronous writing functionality for increased backup speeds and support for USB 3.0. The software also has been tested with the Microsoft Windows 8 Consumer and Windows 8 Developer betas.

Data loss or even extended periods of downtime — when access is interrupted — can have a devastating effect on businesses. At the same time, the rise of Big Data has made it more difficult for organizations to properly store and protect their data.

PSG is also keeping an eye on expanding storage needs with support for 2.2+TB hard disk drives and file-level exclude for data migration to smaller disk space. Rounding out the package is support for Oracle VirtualBox 4 — also recently updated, incidentally.

Paragon’s small-business edition of the software, which sells for $499, offers restore at a granular level, which can minimize downtime if there’s no need to restore an entire image — users simply choose only the files they need.

In a recent survey from Backup My Data (BUMI) of 104 SMBs, nearly a third of respondents said an hour of downtime costs their organization thousands of dollars. You do the math.