Zetta Does CDP Doubletake

Another startup is jumping into the data protection game, though Zetta Systems Inc. says it's got a jump on its competitors in at least one area (see Zetta Releases ZettaServer IR).

Zetta launched the ZettaServer IR for real-time data protection and instant recovery today, comprising software for off-the-shelf hardware that protects email and database applications. Like other advanced CDP products, Zettas software combines frequent snapshots with the ability to roll back to any point in time if data is corrupted. That provides rapid restoral of the last good version of data in the event of an outage.

Unlike other CDP products, Zetta supports Fibre Channel and iSCSI arrays in the same system. This feature, which is likely to be of more use as iSCSI becomes prevalent in enterprise shops, lets customers restore data from an IP SAN to a Fibre Channel SAN, and vice versa.

Support of FC and iSCSI in the same system differentiates Zetta from other CDP startups. Otherwise, Zetta's product resembles those of a growing roster of vendors, including Mendocino Software, Revivio Inc., and XOsoft (see Revivio Vies for Backup Bucks and XOsoft Hits Rewind).

For now, Zetta is shooting for midsize and smaller SANs running Exchange, SQL Server, and Oracle databases. Its pricing begins at $5,000 for single-server licenses, and runs to $18,000 for allowing remote replication over multiple sites. With more of a large-enterprise focus, Mendocino and Revivio CDP pricing begins at around $50,000. XOSoft, a more direct competitor to Zetta, starts at around $25,000.Zetta probably has less time to make a splash in this nascent market than its rivals. While the competition is well stocked with VC money, Zetta putters along with private funding from CEO Ganapathy Krishnan and other investors. Revivio grabbed $25 million in January to run its total to $55 million, XOSoft has $30 million in funding, and Mendocino $15 million (see Revivio Revs Up With $25M, XOsoft Raises $9 Million, and Mendocino Scores $15M).

The startups won’t have the space to themselves for long, either. Backup leaders Veritas and EMC Legato plan to get into this market and recently became charter members of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA)'s CDP special interest group (see CDP Gets SNIA'd).

Undaunted, Krishnan says he might look for VC funding this year, although he would rather avoid it. “I might go down that path, but I want to be very careful,” he says. “Fortunately, I’ve had access to private funding money, -- including my own.”

Krishnan hopes to grow revenues fast enough to beef up his 14-person company organically. Zetta’s first product, providing data protection for NAS, sold primarily through channels and OEMs. Although Krishnan says he’ll continue to sell mostly indirectly, he intends to add a sales VP and beef up the sales staff to work with channel partners.

— Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch0