StorageCraft, a provider of backup, data protection, disaster recovery and system migration for Windows servers and computers, have announced their partnership with Intel, the world’s leader in silicon innovation, to offer a Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) appliance operating on the Intel Hybrid Cloud platform.

Powered by StorageCraft, the BDR appliance is available with the Intel AppUp Small Business Service and offers managed service providers (MSPs) a business continuity, recovery and backup solution that fits into an Intel Hybrid Cloud environment. Designed specifically for small and medium businesses, the appliance protects an organization’s Windows-based system (including the operating system, applications, settings and data), yet it eliminates the complexity and downtime attached to most disaster recovery offerings.

The StorageCraft ShadowProtect server deploys from the Intel Hybrid Cloud platform to take image snapshots and then stores the image files on the Backup and Disaster Recovery appliance. Once ShadowProtect has taken a full backup image, it can then be configured to capture only incremental changes, thereby reducing the significant overhead common to the backup process. System recovery, system virtualization and simple file and folder recovery can all be performed by mounting the backup image file. An image of a Windows system can be booted into a virtual environment on the Backup and Disaster Recovery appliance and, by leveraging ShadowProtect technology, be up and running within minutes. The appliance can continue to generate backups of the hosted system, even without the presence of hardware, and also supports image replication to a data center or to a private or public cloud.

The BDR appliance will be offered on a monthly subscription basis and will be available through the Intel AppUp Small Business Service in the second quarter of 2012.

“The value of a reliable backup system, featuring quick recovery options and high-speed full-system restores, is critical to small and medium size businesses. The ability for MSPs to provide their small business customers near enterprise-grade recovery times under a monthly subscription model at an entry-level price point is an important value that customers appreciate. It’s a perfect fit for small business owners who know the value of business continuity. We’re pleased to go to market with StorageCraft and to offer our reseller partners this compelling solution through our AppUp Small Business Service,” said Bridget Karlin, General Manager at Intel Hybrid Cloud.