Veeam launches Kasten v8 to unify VM & Kubernetes protection

Veeam has announced the launch of Veeam Kasten for Kubernetes v8, aimed at unifying virtual machine and container data protection for enterprises.

This latest release introduces enhancements that allow organisations to manage both traditional virtual machines (VMs) and modern Kubernetes applications through a single platform. The new version also integrates with Veeam Vault, offering a fully managed offsite backup solution, and is intended to improve operational efficiency by consolidating data management under Veeam's suite of tools.

Gaurav Rishi, Vice President of Product Management at Veeam, commented on the launch: "Veeam Kasten for Kubernetes v8 marks a significant leap forward in our mission to provide enterprises with unparalleled data resilience for Kubernetes environments."

"This latest version enables organisations to seamlessly manage traditional VMs and modern applications on a single platform while ensuring data is secure and accessible. New integration with Veeam Vault provides a fully managed offsite backup solution that eliminates unexpected costs, benefiting existing Veeam customers wanting to expand their data protection to include Kubernetes. By consolidating all their data under Veeam's trusted management, customers can implement a comprehensive solution for their Kubernetes application workloads, maximising operational efficiency and enhance data resilience in today's complex IT landscape."

Kasten v8 arrives with several new features targeted at enterprise customers. Among those is the ability to unify data resilience for VMs on Kubernetes alongside containerised applications, aiming to streamline operations and increase efficiency.

The file-level recovery (FLR) function for KubeVirt VMs facilitates granular restores, allowing recovery of individual files from backups without recreating whole VM clones. This is designed to support enterprises using solutions such as Red Hat OpenShift Virtualisation.

The release also introduces a virtual machine dashboard intended to provide a workload-centric perspective, helping teams identify each VM's dependencies within Kubernetes clusters and configure backup consistency more easily.

Veeam is extending freedom of choice to organisations through enhanced multi-CPU architecture support, which enables use of ARM and IBM Power to optimise costs. The company has also broadened support for the NetApp Trident storage provisioner and introduced backup capabilities for ONTAP NAS "Economy" volumes.

These features allow for more flexibility in how companies back up data across different storage systems.

Security measures have been expanded with this version. Features such as secure self-service cross-cluster migrations, restricted privileges for Kasten Pods and ISO 27001 certification are intended to increase customers' security profiles.

The adoption of a least-privilege approach is designed to both minimise risks and improve compliance. The process of encrypting passkeys has also been simplified to help enterprises maintain robust security while improving operational efficiency.

Operational improvements in Kasten v8 include a refreshed user interface, updated policy management systems and the Restore Point Catalog, designed to help administrators manage backups and restore operations more easily. The Per Policy Protection Status provides a clearer view into backup policies for specific namespaces, making it easier to identify and address potential issues quickly.

In support of Red Hat OpenShift Virtualisation Engine, which is positioned as a replacement for legacy virtualisation solutions, Veeam is introducing Kasten for Modern Virtualization.

This tailored pricing option aims to integrate with Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine and is the result of collaboration between Veeam and Red Hat.

Mike Barrett, Vice President and General Manager of Hybrid Platforms at Red Hat, said: "Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine provides customers with a dedicated virtualisation edition to migrate, manage and scale virtual machines. As enterprises advance their hybrid cloud strategy by rapidly re-hosting virtualised apps to platforms designed for modern virtualisation, data resilience remains a strategic imperative.

With the latest release of Kasten, Veeam continues to deliver innovation aligned with these evolving needs. Veeam's Kubernetes-native architecture and optimsation on Red Hat OpenShift provides our customers with a more scalable, cost-effective solution to secure virtualised workloads today—while laying a strong foundation for container adoption over time."

Veeam Kasten for Kubernetes v8 and Kasten for Modern Virtualization are now available to enterprises seeking a unified solution for managing data resilience in both virtualised and containerised environments.