Cloud-based backup and disaster recovery (BDR) provider Axcient this week said it’s making its on-premise virtual appliance product available for free to assist channel partners with replacing legacy software and hardware backup products.

Axcient Free provides data recovery for up to 20 terabytes of data and three servers. The software is available for download from the company.

The freemium plan includes local data backup for Microsoft (MSFT) Windows, Apple (AAPL) Mac and Linux Onsite operating systems.

Axcient CEO Justin Moore told MSPmentor that this new offering is a “highly disruptive, free version of our platform.”

“There are companies that don’t really understand the cost of having a system down,” he said. “I see this product being used largely by those.”

Axcient also pitched this product as an alternative to Symantec’s BackupExec, an on-premise backup and recovery product.

Moore has been critical of Symantec in the past, pointing out flaws in the company’s approach to Backup Exec.cloud, a solution that is no longer available to channel partners.

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