Comtrade Software Solutions GmbH is targeting users of Nutanix Inc.’s hyperconverged infrastructure with what it says is the first purpose-built data protection applications for the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform.

Called HYCU, which stands for Hyperconverged Uptime, the software takes four minutes of ramp-up learning, three minutes to deploy and two minutes to recover identified data, the company claimed.

HYCU auto-detects applications running in virtual machines and makes them transparent to the infrastructure management teams. That ensures that no critical applications are left unprotected, a feature that Comtrade said solves a major challenge for hyperconverged infrastructure.

Although little-known in the U.S., Comtrade has been in business for 25 years and has about 2,000 customers, mostly in Europe, for its data protection and monitoring products. It’s one of the largest employers in Slovenia, but the privately held firm has never raised venture capital or done much marketing outside of Europe. The software business planted its flag and the U.S. late last year, saying it would focus on the Nutanix market.

Subbiah Sundaram, head of data protection at Comtrade Software, said that with this release the company is trying to duplicate the simplicity of the overall Nutanix experience in the data protection area. The software supports all workloads on the Nutanix platform and allows companies to leverage Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor to eliminate the need to pay for a hypervisor. Support for VMware Inc.’s ESX hypervisor is planned.

The software performs constant snapshots to enable quick restores to any point in history and helps information technology administrators better visualize application behavior. The focus on application awareness is distinctive, Sundaram said, noting that most backup products are defined by infrastructure.

Comtrade said HYCU is the only automated application discovery product that pinpoints each application within running virtual machines. It also creates application-specific recovery workflows that IT administrators can use to backup applications with a single click. An automated self-service portal enables business users to manage their own data.

The approach is driven by application programming interfaces, so because they’re tightly integrated with Nutanix, HYCU provides for automated workflow recovery without the need for professional services, the company said. HYCU is available through Comtrade partners at prices starting at $999 per socket.

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