N-able, Inc., the solutions partner helping IT services providers deliver security, data protection as-a-service, and remote monitoring and management services, announced it has added a Standby Image feature as part of the company’s recently launched Cove Data Protection™ solution. By making it simple to create, manage, and report on virtual server images in the partner's preferred location, ready for quick and flexible disaster recovery, without an expensive proprietary appliance, N-able delivers on the promise of cloud-first data protection as-a-service combined with business-class disaster recovery.

In the past, IT services providers thought they needed pricey backup appliances or traditional image backup to offer the full spectrum of disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) choices. Traditional products' high costs and ineffectiveness were regarded as the cost of effective catastrophe recovery. With the launch of Standby Image, Cove adopts a novel strategy by fusing a full DRaaS with an affordable, cloud-first architecture. The current host and this version enhance the completely automated Recovery Testing feature.

Ransomware is one of the most popular methods used by hackers and malicious actors. According to The Verizon 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report, in 2021 ransomware increased by 13 per cent, representing a jump greater than the past five years combined. Its lucrative nature has incentivised bad actors to expand the scope of their attacks, including the introduction of new variants designed specifically to encrypt or delete backup data stored on the local network, destroying organisations’ last line of defence and further incentivising payment.

By removing the local attack vectors, cloud-first backup helps to reduce risk. Additionally, although hardware failures and natural calamities need rapid failover, a strike like ransomware can cause more harm than good by possibly reinfecting the network with malware. By establishing a secure replica of each backup prepared for quick on-demand recovery in a secondary location, Standby Image allows Cove to better prepare users for either situation.

“Cove Data Protection's Standby Image feature is the most flexible solution we have used,” said Chad Grahek, president of Grahek Technology. “Since Cove is cloud-first, the recovery appliance does not have to be on the same network, so we can use an easy-to-manage hardware configuration that works for each customer. Compared to other solutions that store backups onsite first – this is less complex, works faster, and we can be sure that the backup is always in sync from one dashboard.”

“The introduction of Standby Image is the latest example of Cove’s strategy to deliver meaningful business outcomes while delighting our partners with unexpected simplicity,” stated Chris Groot, general manager, Cove Data Protection, N-able. “The ability to provide robust, business-class disaster recovery without the administrative and cost burdens of traditional image backup products will make a meaningful difference to our partners and their customers.”