Datto Inc. has added ransomware detection capabilities to its SIRIS 3 backup appliances.
The new feature was one among a flurry of upgrades announced by Datto CEO Austin McChord at the Norwalk, Conn.-based BDR vendor’s DattoCon EMEA conference, which took place today in London.
The new functionality, which draws on rich historical data collected from Datto clients impacted by ransomware in the past, allows SIRIS 3 devices to recognize and send alerts about ransomware assaults as they happen.
“It’s derived from countless experiences with ransomware attacks over many months,” says Datto CMO Peter Rawlinson.
Once notified of an unfolding ransomware incident, MSPs can roll affected files back to their pre-attack state with a single command.
Also announced today were new additions to the SIRIS 3 product line, which debuted at the vendor’s U.S. DattoCon event in June. Those include 80, 100, and 120 TB models, as well as the new SIRIS 3 X2 (S3X2), a 2 TB device with all-flash storage designed for SMBs with modest storage requirements.
Datto launched a similar 1 TB flash-based unit named the SIRIS 3 X1 (S3X1) along with the rest of the SIRIS 3 family four months ago. According to Rawlinson, MSPs have been utilizing that product both to protect the smallest of their SMB clients and to familiarize themselves with Datto’s hardware offerings.
“What we found is the [S3X1] has been kind of a jumping off point to purchase more and more BC/DR devices and higher end BC/DR devices from us,” he says.
Today’s SIRIS 3 updates also include enhanced screenshot verification functionality that employs custom scripts or pre-coded ones supplied by Datto to verify that essential services are functioning properly on virtual servers immediately after they boot up.
“We can check to confirm that they are actively up and running, and therefore the backup was successful,” Rawlinson says.
Several further product announcements made today concern Datto’s NAS 3 appliance, which in addition to receiving new block-level de-duplication functionality now utilizes the same case and internal circuitry as the SIRIS 3. That allows users to convert Datto NAS devices into SIRIS 3 units without doing a rip and replace of their existing hardware.
The Datto NAS 3 also now comes with a new feature called NAS Guard that automatically discovers and protects file repositories across an end user’s infrastructure.
“The NAS in the past has just been a network storage device,” explains Rawlinson. “It hasn’t had the ability to automatically crawl through the network, identify storage locations, and sync those back up to the device.”
Datto has extended the “Infinite Cloud Retention” that its SIRIS 3 and ALTO products have enjoyed since June to the Datto NAS family as well. While Datto has traditionally allowed customers to keep data in its hosted infrastructure only for specific timeframes or in specific quantities, Infinite Cloud Retention lets them store backups in any amount for as long as they have an active service contract.
In a further upgrade unveiled today, both Datto NAS 3 and SIRIS 3 products now come with a free local implementation of the cloud-based Datto Drive file sync and share solution that Datto officially released in May after a soft launch in March. According to Rawlinson, approximately 10,000 companies now use the online version of Datto Drive.
Today’s wave of product changes also includes an upgraded administration portal for Datto’s Backupify cloud-to-cloud backup solution that has been integrated into the same interface MSPs use to manage all of their other Datto solutions.
“We just want a one stop shop for all of our MSPs to go to manage their accounts,” Rawlinson says, adding that the master management portal now offers two-factor authentication as well as a revised version of the Status 2.0 device management page equipped with multiple usability enhancements.
All of the new devices and capabilities introduced today are available immediately worldwide with the exception of the NAS Guard feature, which will reach market by the end of the year.
Today’s slew of product updates marks the premier of a new bi-annual release cadence for Datto, which has rolled out major upgrades only once a year up until now. Going forward, new functionality and solutions will arrive at both the U.S. and EMEA editions of DattoCon.
According to Rawlinson, the one-day DattoCon EMEA event held today drew over 350 attendees. That’s a 178 percent increase over last year’s turnout.
