The company claimed this enables robust and secure sharing and segregation of VTL backups in complex customer and managed service provider (MSP) environments.

“As the era of expensive, independently managed VTL appliances continues to fade, customers have a growing need for comprehensive multitenancy capabilities that are fully integrated with enterprise backup operations and allow for the secure and efficient sharing of resources,” said Rob Marett, chief technology officer, Cobalt Iron. “Those are the precise requirements we’ve addressed with the new Compass VTL multitenancy feature, which delivers core VTL functionality but with reduced overall costs, operational simplicity, and secure multitenancy.”

The Compass VTL multitenancy solution automates tape, VTL, and disaster recovery (DR) operations and integrates them with other enterprise backup and DR products while maintaining multitenancy operational discipline. Data from multiple tenants can be directed to a Compass Accelerator via tape protocols, and data is automatically managed. The package also supports automatic replication to another Compass Accelerator in a private or public cloud environment. The Compass VTL feature supports Fibre Channel connectivity on the following platforms: IBM Power AIX, IBM i, Windows on Intel, Linux on Intel, and HPE OpenVMS.

The package exploits IBM i multi-user environments in which standard Backup, Recovery, and Media Services (BRMS) and/or SAV backups are typically sent to a local VTL or tape. It is common for these environments to have multiple IBM i partitions sharing the same VTL. The Compass VTL feature securely governs data from multiple clients, automates IBM i DR operations, introduces transparent cloud connectivity for IBM i backup data, and integrates IBM i backup with other enterprise data protection operations, while maintaining familiar IBM i backup functions.

The new multitenancy capabilities are included in the VTL feature of the Compass Accelerator. The feature is priced in storage capacity tiers based on the maximum daily ingest of data. The package is available immediately and can be ordered as part of an overall Compass design.