The new reality
One host, many virtual machines, a single point of failure
Virtualization packed several servers into one machine: dozens of virtual machines running on a single virtualization host (VMware or Hyper-V). It saves space and power, but it concentrates the risk. When the host fails, or when the storage where the virtual machines live corrupts, all of them go down at once. And the snapshot, which many people treat as a safety copy, lives on that same storage, so it is lost along with it.
A single host concentrates dozens of virtual machines; if it fails, all of them stop at the same instant.
A snapshot is not a backup: it lives on the same storage as the virtual machine and disappears when the storage does.
With independent copies taken several times a day, you recover a whole virtual machine in minutes, without depending on the original host.
If your company's virtualization host failed tonight, taking every virtual machine with it, from which copy, outside it, would you bring them back tomorrow morning?
Still evaluating? See in minutes what an outage would cost your company.
The real problem
It all feels virtual and safe, until the host goes down
The virtual machine is convenient: you create, clone and snapshot it in seconds. That ease is deceptive, because it feels like everything is protected. Here is how a virtual machine gets lost day to day:
The virtualization host fails
A single host runs dozens of virtual machines. When its hardware stops, every machine on that host stops together, and the whole company feels it at once.
The snapshot that was never a backup
Long snapshot chains corrupt, degrade performance and, worse, live on the same storage as the virtual machine. If that storage fails, the virtual machine and all its snapshots are lost at the same moment.
Ransomware inside the virtual machine
A ransomware attack, the virus that hijacks and scrambles your data to demand a ransom, gets into one virtual machine and spreads to the others and to the shared storage. Copies kept in the same environment are encrypted along with them.
A virtual machine deleted in one click
In the virtualization console, deleting the wrong machine, restoring the wrong template or removing a virtual disk takes seconds. What was an entire production server vanishes with a click.
The storage that corrupts
The storage where the virtual machines live can corrupt from disk failure, a power outage or a logical error. Without an independent copy outside it, there is nowhere to come back from.
The common thread is always the same: whatever lives inside the virtual environment is lost together with it. Real protection is a copy of each virtual machine kept outside the host, isolated and immutable, ready to spin up in minutes wherever you need it.
The concept
What independent virtual server backup is
It is a complete copy of each virtual machine, the entire machine image with system, applications and data, captured several times a day by an agent inside it and kept outside the host, in an isolated and immutable way. Unlike a snapshot, this copy lives somewhere else; from it you recover a single file, or the whole virtual machine, and you can spin it up in the same virtualization environment (VMware or Hyper-V), in another, or straight in the cloud.
Recover the whole virtual machine, not just a file
From the complete virtual machine image to a single file inside it: you choose the level, and the machine comes back as it was, without rebuilding anything.
Outside the host, out of reach
Copies stay isolated from the virtual environment and immutable, so a host failure, storage corruption or an attack cannot reach your one chance to come back.
Spin the virtual machine up in minutes, wherever you need
Restore on the same host, on another virtualization server or as a virtual machine in the cloud, so the operation comes back while the original environment is sorted.
Not sure your virtual machines have a copy outside the host? See in minutes what an outage would cost your company.
What you get
What is included
Complete protection of your virtual environment, scoped, configured, monitored and tested by Zamak, with recovery already prepared for the day a virtual machine goes down.
What is protected
Each virtual machine in full, with frequent copies throughout the day.
- The complete virtual machine image: operating system, settings and state.
- The virtual disks, files and folders inside each machine.
- Databases and applications running on the virtual machines, with a consistent copy.
- VMware and Hyper-V environments, with each machine treated as a single unit.
How you recover
Several routes, from a single file to the whole virtual machine back online.
- Granular restore of a file or folder from inside the virtual machine, in minutes.
- Recovery of the entire virtual machine on the same host.
- Restore of the virtual machine on another virtualization server, VMware or Hyper-V.
- Spinning the virtual machine up in the cloud to bring the operation back fast while the host is sorted.
- All in the same Zamak backup console, alongside physical servers, workstations and Microsoft 365 backups, if you also protect them with us.
- Recovery testing overseen by Zamak, so you know the virtual machine really comes up.
Tech specs
The engineering behind a virtual machine that comes back fast
For those who want to look under the hood: what underpins fast recovery and the security of your virtual machines' copy, in real numbers.
Encryption
AES-256 in transit and at rest; the copy is encrypted in your environment before it leaves, over a dedicated TLS 1.2 tunnel.
Frequent recovery points
Automatic copies throughout the day, with recovery points as close as every 15 minutes for the most critical machines.
Recovery at any level
From a file inside the virtual machine to the entire machine: on the same host, on another or as a virtual machine in the cloud.
Transfer efficiency
Incremental technology that sends, on average, less than 0.5% of the data per session, with variable-level deduplication; it protects many virtual machines without saturating the network.
Immutable and isolated
Copies stay isolated from the virtual environment, in an independent vault, and cannot be altered or deleted, not even by a compromised administrator.
Recovery tested, not assumed
Automated tests boot the virtual machine's copy in an isolated environment and verify it actually starts, turning “we have a backup” into “we have a backup that restores”.
Your copy lives in a network of 30 datacenters, across 17 countries and five continents, on infrastructure certified in SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, HIPAA and PCI-DSS, with the region chosen to match your data residency requirements.
It is the difference between a snapshot you hope works and a copy you know restores.
Take this documentation to present to decision-makers.
How it compares
Our virtual server backup, next to the alternatives
The backup solution Zamak delivers, Cove Data Protection by N-able, is compared by the manufacturer itself against the best-known alternatives on the market. See where it stands apart in protecting virtual environments.
Virtual machines, physical servers and workstations
Zamak's choice
Zamak (Cove Data Protection)
In one console and the same license
Veeam
Separate product and console
Datto
Separate products
Cloud storage
Zamak's choice
Zamak (Cove Data Protection)
Included, in 30 locations, no appliance
Veeam
You build and host it, at extra cost
Datto
Appliances that grow and fail; peak-usage billing
Data efficiency
Zamak's choice
Zamak (Cove Data Protection)
Up to 60× less data and 5× less storage
Veeam
Traditional, heavier transfer
Datto
Uses 5× more storage
Immutable copies (anti-ransomware)
Zamak's choice
Zamak (Cove Data Protection)
Automatic and included, no hardware
Veeam
Require dedicated hardware
Datto
Tied to the appliance architecture
Recovery testing
Zamak's choice
Zamak (Cove Data Protection)
Hosted, with automated verification
Veeam
Your own scripting or a separate license
Datto
Restore tied to the on-site appliance
Long-term retention
Zamak's choice
Zamak (Cove Data Protection)
7 years included, with no storage charge
Veeam
You manage long-term storage yourself
Datto
Archiving charged separately
Comparison published by N-able, maker of Cove Data Protection, against Veeam and Datto.
Risk and impact
From real risk to business impact
The virtualization host fails and brings down every virtual machine.
The whole company stops at once, and the cost of the outage grows by the hour.
How independent backup responds
Recovery of each virtual machine from copies outside the host, in the same environment or another.
Ransomware gets into one virtual machine and spreads across the environment.
Machines and snapshots on the same storage are encrypted together, with pressure to pay the ransom.
How independent backup responds
Isolated and immutable copies, outside the host, ready to restore without paying anything.
Someone deletes the wrong machine or the storage corrupts.
An entire production server vanishes, with no snapshot that survives.
How independent backup responds
An independent copy of the virtual machine, kept outside the environment, that comes back whole in minutes.
An audit asks for the state of a system from months ago.
The snapshots have already been consolidated and there is no history to present.
How independent backup responds
Version history of the virtual machine, with search and export, to hand over whatever is requested.
Snapshots and local copies protect against the small mistake; the isolated, immutable copy protects against host failure, attack and disaster.
For every role
What changes for each role in your company
The same protection, read through the eyes of whoever decides, owns the budget, runs the environment and resells IT.
Owner and founder
Build it, protect it, grow its value.
Your virtual environment concentrates the systems that hold the company together. An independent copy ensures a host failure or an attack cannot erase years of operation, and becomes proof of governance for clients and insurers.
Manager and director
Predictable cost. No surprises.
Trade the risk of losing the whole virtual environment at once for a fixed line in the budget. You get a monthly report on the state of the copies, and the assurance of knowing recovery is tested, so you can answer the board and the auditor without surprises.
IT lead and team
A secure extension of your team.
Zamak is a backline, not a replacement: your team stops hoping the snapshot works and gains independent, tested copies, with a partner on call for the day of bringing the virtual machine back, without losing control of the environment.
IT partner and provider
Add the immutable vault to your IT offering.
You already run your clients' virtualization; Zamak only steps into the layer that is hard to build: the isolated, immutable copy, outside the host, with tested recovery. You keep the relationship and the contract, and gain a partner on call when a host goes down at the client, to grow your book without growing your technical team.
The care a license doesn't include
Why Zamak
Buying a backup license is the easy part. What truly brings peace of mind is the service behind it: assessing which virtual machines are critical, the right configuration and sizing, every copy watched closely, recovery tested before you need it, and, on the day a machine goes down, the restore led by our team. That is the backline Zamak places alongside your team, adding to the work of whoever already runs the environment, never taking their place.
In the end, it is the difference between having snapshots you hope work and having virtual machines that someone watches over, knows and can put back online at the right moment.
15 years serving companies that cannot stop · Microsoft Solutions Partner · Addee (N-able) Elite Group · Great Place to Work.
The copy is stored on infrastructure certified in SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA and PCI-DSS.
Still wondering?
Frequently asked questions
See also Check your ransomware readiness · Calculate the cost of an outage
Next steps
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