If you’re a small business (or an MSP or VAR who works with SMB customers), you might be planning to migrate a physical installation of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to a virtual model. Before you do, make sure you check the costs associated with switching the license of your backup software.

We’ve been hearing that some online backup vendors are charging an arm and a leg for this — especially if it involves local hardware. So, we’re offering a zero upfront software/hardware cost program that features Asigra technology. Our capacity-based pricing means no additional license fees when making the switch, plus a completely smooth transition to a dependable, cloud-based solution.

Here’s the news release we issued today - but feel free to drop us a line if you’d like to learn more.

TORONTO, CANADA: Small businesses and managed-service providers (MSPs) who are planning to migrate a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 installation from a physical installation to a virtual model have one less cost to worry about: hidden backup software license fees. Effective today, Storage Guardian is offering zero upfront cost transitions for these customers with its “Virtual Roadmap” program. Because Storage Guardian’s online backup solutions are based on the volume of data stored, irrespective of whether it originates from a physical or virtual environment, SQL Server 2008 users can smoothly switch from physical to virtual without any change in license fees, and with minimal disruption. Storage Guardian’s technology is also guaranteed to be compatible with the upcoming SQL Server 2008 Release 2.

“Virtual computing is an attractive option for companies looking to save money on their hardware and maintenance costs, but there are often hidden costs associated with their backup infrastruture,” says Dave Minns, client services manager at Storage Guardian, which specializes in data protection and backup for small businesses and the MSPs and VARs that serve them. “What we’re saying is, make sure that your backup vendor is able to switch you from physical to virtual without charging for a change of license or expensive local hardware.”

Storage Guardian’s technology platform is based on the latest Asigra Televaulting technology, which offers significant advances over other approaches:

* Handles incremental backups as well as Transaction Log backups with automatic truncation that eliminates database corruption. The software backs up a snapshot of the SQL database, so there is no need to use volume shadow backup.

* Transparently integrates open and ‘hot’ SQL Server backups within regularly scheduled network protection routines.

* Restoring to another database server machine is easy, because Storage Guardian supports “rollback restores” that restore databases based on a point in time, rather than a specific backup job.

* Automatic validation and test restore options to ensure the data is valid and restorable.

* Agentless software is cost-effective, efficient, and ideal for a managed-service, subscription-based model.

Why Storage Guardian is the leader for small-business online backup
With more than ten years’ experience and thousands of satisfied customers, Storage Guardian’s remote data backup service has established itself as a dependable provider of enterprise-grade online backup technology for smaller companies. What sets it apart from the many low-cost alternatives in the market are online data backup features optimized for businesses that depend on Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Small Business Server 2003/2008, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, Novell GroupWise, and Lotus Notes.

MSPs and VARs can benefit from Storage Guardian’s enterprise-ready approach:
* A cost-saving tiered-storage approach that includes: a) a local backup of first-generation data; b) a highly available second tier of online backup; c) a third tier of near-line backups of mature data (typically backups that have aged past 90 days).
* Competitive pricing at a rate of $3.00 (50 cents for tiered storage) per compressed GB per month (based on a 3:1 compression ratio).
* Convenience and flexibility are two crucial considerations when a major data restore is needed after a catastrophic server failure. Storage Guardian’s ‘bare metal’ capability can restore data backup up from one server to a completely different server.
* To save time for new customers, the initial backup is performed on a portable drive that is then shipped to Storage Guardian. Similarly, if a major restore of a large amount of data is needed, Storage Guardian can overnight a portable drive containing the data to be restored.
* Storage Guardian’s ultra-secure online backup technology uses AES 256-bit encryption plus hardware authentication. Information to be backed up is de-duplicated (deduped), compressed and encrypted before transmission to Storage Guardian’s SAS-70 compliant datacenter.

Useful links
Storage Guardian secure online backup: www.storageguardian.com
Storage Guardian blog: www.storageguardian.com/blog
Storage Guardian YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/storageguardian
Follow Storage Guardian on Twitter: www.twitter.com/storageguardian - @storageguardian