Sitting in the general session is not typically the way I'd compose a new post, but I'm pretty stoked by some new, long-desired features announced for the next version of Veeam Backup and Replication (VBR), version 10.
First is the (long awaited) inclusion of physical endpoint backup management via VBR console. We've had Endpoint Backup for a while, which is awesome, and we've been able to use VBR repositories to store backups, but all management was at the endpoint itself. In addition to centralized management, the newest version of the managed endpoint backup (alright, alright... Agent) will support Microsoft Failover Clusters at GA!
Second is the new feature that significantly expands VBR's capability: the ability to backup NAS devices. Technically, it's via SMB or NFS shares, so you could target any share--including one on a supported virtual or physical platform--but the intention is to give great backup & recovery options for organizations that utilize previously-unsupported platforms for NAS, like NetApp, Celera, etc.
Third--and most exciting to me, personally--is the addition of a replication mode utilizing VMware's new "VMware APIs for I/O Filtering" (VAIO). This replication mode uses a snapshot-free capture of VMDK changes on the source, with and the destination being updated on a (configurable, default of 15s) by-the-second interval. This new replication method is branded "Veeam CDP" (Continuous Data Protection). There are competing products on the market that offer similar capability, but Veeam is advertising that they are the first to leverage VAIO while other products are using either undocumented/unsupported APIs, or old APIs intended for physical replication devices.
There are a number of other nice, new features coming--Object storage support, Universal APIs for storage integration, etc.--but these three will be the big, compelling reasons to not only upgrade to Version 10 when it arrives (for current customers) but to upgrade your vSphere environments if you haven't already embraced Version 6.x.
Dribs and drabs of stuff that others might find useful, too.
