Midmarket backup solutions provider STORServer has released version 5.0 of its Virtual Machine Backup (VMB) software, featuring IBM (IBM) Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments (TSM) and designed to protect VMware (VMW) vSphere backup machines.

Adding TSM to the new Virtual Machine Backup software enables users to protect their data without a traditional backup window by offloading workloads to a centralized server and avoiding any impact on the physical resources of the VMware server, according to IBM documentation. STORServer VMB 5.0 supports both TSM for VE v6.4, which includes the incremental forever or periodic full backup strategy available for full virtual machines, file level and instant restore operations and the prior TSM for VE v6.3.

The new VMB software uses VMware vStorage APIs to control the movement of data directly to and from disk storage into TSM storage pools without agents or VMware servers, STORServer said. Not only does this eliminate any impact of backup on production servers but also it removes writing scripts or managing TSM schedules and option files. Previously, users had to command some level of TSM expertise to manage the VMB software but that is no longer the case.

The software also continues to support the use of its previously available backup technology, VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK). Users can configure VMB for either technology for all backups or use one technology as the default option and configure selected VM clients to use the other.

Additional TSM for VE features housed in VMB 5.0 include: