Datto is the maker of several data backup and business continuity solutions, including its flagship BCDR product, the Datto SIRIS, and ALTO, which is designed for small businesses. Owned by Kaseya, Datto’s headquarters are in Norwalk, Connecticut, with satellite offices located around the globe.

Datto was founded in 2007. As of 2020, the company had more than 1,700 employees worldwide.

Datto is unique from other BCDR solutions in the way it creates, stores and secures backups. Datto uses its exclusive Inverse Chain Technology, which eliminates the traditional backup chain by storing each recovery point in an independent, fully constructed state. Backups are stored on a local Datto device and replicated to the Datto cloud.

Datto is also unique in that it is a “channel-only” vendor, meaning that its products are only available through a select group of managed-service providers, such as Invenio IT.

Every Datto device comes with a 3 year warranty (the new Datto SIRIS 5 has a 5 year warranty) that is fully covered as long as the service is active and is being paid. You do have the option to purchase an extended warranty. After the warranty expires, Datto will continue to support the device and host the data off-site as long as the service continues to be paid, but the device will no longer be covered by warranty. If the device were to fail, you can purchase a new device and Datto can pre-load your data at no charge.

In the event of a disaster, we will virtualize all of your servers in Datto’s datacenter, and your business will continue with minimum interruption. Datto will send a brand new device with all data and configurations in place at no charge — for all devices currently under service.

A new drive or device ships same business day or next business day, depending on shipping limitations.

Datto’s data centers utilize Security Access and Control Systems (SACS) that use global biometric authentication access methodology to track all authenticated data center employees and prohibit the entry of any unauthorized personnel. Datto data centers are staffed 24/7, in addition to off-site Critical Facilities Management Teams that report and record all access and alarm information to ensure the most comprehensive security possible. This translates to completely secure data centers.

Yes, you can find Datto’s Technical Support Service Level Agreement here.

Each Datto device uses advanced encryption technology to keep data secure. During both transmit and cloud storage, all data is fully encrypted using AES 256 and SSL key-based encryption. You have the option to encrypt backups locally with the Datto SIRIS. AES 256 is certified by the NSA as the encryption used for all Top Secret government data. Datto employees cannot view data.

Yes, if you do outgrow the storage capacity of your Datto device, you can upgrade your device to a larger unit if your device is currently under service. Depending on the make and model, the upgrade will either be an onsite upgrade, or require a new device if it’s in a different product class (i.e., Professional vs. Enterprise). Please contact us for more information.

Several variables affect the cost of deploying Datto, including the size of the backup device, the number of systems that it protects and how it’s deployed. Pricing will vary by provider, but typically businesses will pay for the initial installation and then a monthly fee for storage and service.
Datto is sold exclusively through a network of managed service providers (MSPs). With some deployments, businesses will have the option of paying for service monthly or prepaying a few years in advance with cost savings. The best way to get a quote for your specific needs is to request Datto pricing.

Sizing for the Datto SIRIS is based on a number of factors. First, look at the total data “usage” across the servers and workstations you will be protecting. Datto is an image-based backup system, so the Datto SIRIS will backup the OS, applications, databases, files and folders. The general rule is to size the SIRIS on a 2.5 to 1 basis, of the data used. If you are going to encrypt the local agents, that should extend to 3 to 1 or greater. If you will be protecting servers with large transactional databases, you should increase the ratio to account for this.
The next consideration is the number of servers you will be protecting. The greater the number of servers, the higher the SIRIS product line (example – Enterprise vs. Business). If you have any questions, please contact us at success@invenioIT.com, and we’ll help make sure your SIRIS device is sized properly.

For servers or workstations that are protected, you can recreate or virtualize your servers or workstations locally from your Datto SIRIS device through the device’s web portal. In the event of a more severe disaster and your Datto SIRIS device is destroyed, your servers/workstations will be recreated at Datto’s data centers via a remote web portal. You can then connect to the servers or workstations with VPN and RDP connections (public IPs can also be made available). The backups will continue, even while machines are virtualized, and once you are back to normal at your location, you will seamlessly transition back to physical machines after virtualization. You will be shipped a new SIRIS device with all data and configurations at no extra charge — for all devices currently under service.

Yes, you can backup and restore SharePoint, and restore to different versions.

Yes, you can backup and restore Microsoft Exchange. You can restore to the store, mailbox or message level.

Yes, you can backup and restore SQL as well.

Each Datto SIRIS comes with an unlimited number of server and/or workstation licenses. The only limitation is the amount of data across your servers and workstations, and the Datto SIRIS device.

Yes, with each device you have the option store your data off-site at Datto’s data centers. You will have a monthly option, or you can prepay 1, 2 or 3 years in advance with cost savings. With the service, you will be able to virtualize your servers and workstations off-site, receive next day shipping on destroyed devices and archived snapshots of your data, which you can restore from.

Yes, each device under service has an option for pay-as-you-go pricing, 1 year off-site or infinite cloud storage with no size limits. The archive contains daily snapshots of the device, stored at Datto’s data centers.
Once we have our Datto SIRIS up and configured, is it possible to test our disaster recovery plan?
Yes, we highly recommend documenting your disaster and recovery procedure. We recommend testing out your DR plan at least once a year, preferably twice. Our reps are available to help you put together your plan and test it out with you.

Yes, you can view a demo of the local and off-site virtualization process here. You can also schedule a live technical demo with one of our Technology Strategists here.

The Datto SIRIS is commonly deployed as a dedicated on-premises backup device that stores backups locally and replicates them to the Datto Cloud. However, SIRIS can also be deployed as a virtual machine (Virtual SIRIS), imaged onto existing hardware (SIRIS Imaged) or as a self-contained Private Cloud (SIRIS Private) by deploying two physical SIRIS devices.

Yes, Datto SIRIS can be deployed as a software-only implementation, referred to as Virtual SIRIS or vSIRIS. With this deployment, SIRIS runs as a virtual machine (VM) in either VMware ESX or Microsoft Hyper-V.
Virtual SIRIS offers the same core functionality as the physical SIRIS, but it runs in a virtual machine via existing hardware. VMs can be spun up in seconds from the Datto Cloud or they can be spun up directly on a local device, even in the absence of Internet connectivity. Two key benefits of Virtual SIRIS are its quick remote deployment capability and its ability to support a wide variety of custom configurations.

Datto uses its own immutable cloud, consisting of dedicated private data centers around the globe. Unlike a traditional public cloud, which provides all-encompassing data storage for a wide range of organizations, the Datto Cloud is used exclusively for secure storage of data backups from Datto customers and/or their MSPs.
For organizations that require a fully private cloud to comply with federal regulations, this can be achieved with SIRIS Private. This involves the deployment of two Datto SIRIS devices to create a self-contained private cloud.

Datto’s Inverse Chain Technology is an incremental backup method that creates fully constructed backups that can be restored without dependency on a chain of previous backups.
With Datto, each new recovery point is stored in an independent, fully constructed state, so that there is no rebuild process when backups are restored. This increases the speed and resiliency of the backups, while also making them quicker to recover.

Yes, the Datto SIRIS has built-in ransomware protection, which scans each backup for signs of a ransomware footprint. If ransomware is detected, admins are notified, allowing them to take action much faster and roll back to a clean recovery point.
Additionally, SIRIS has a number of other features that provide inherent protection against ransomware, including the high backup frequency, Rapid Rollback technology, backup virtualization capabilities and cloud backup redundancy.

Rapid Rollback is a data recovery method on the Datto SIRIS that allows you to quickly undo widespread unwanted file changes, such as those caused by ransomware. Rapid Rollback enables you to quickly restore only the files that were changed, so that you don’t have to reimage the entire machine.
In addition to reversing the damage from a ransomware attack, Rapid Rollback is also useful for restoring data after an unsuccessful OS update or application failure in which major unwanted changes have occurred.

Datto offers several different recovery methods to fit the needs of various disaster situations. These methods include file/volume restore, virtualization (local, cloud or hybrid), Rapid Rollback, bare metal restore, ESX upload and image exports, among others.
Use Datto’s Disaster Recovery Guide to determine the right recovery method for your situation and instructions on how to perform each. (If you are a customer of Invenio IT, we will of course handle this data recovery for you.)

The primary difference between the Datto SIRIS and ALTO is storage capacity. ALTO has a maximum storage capacity of 1TB and is designed to accommodate smaller businesses. SIRIS comes in several models with maximum storage up to 60TB, making it a better fit for larger organizations.
The functionality of SIRIS and ALTO is largely the same. However, one notable difference is that Instant Virtualization on ALTO is available only via the Datto Cloud, whereas SIRIS allows virtualization both locally and in the cloud.

Datto SIRIS allows for backups as often as every five minutes, though not every organization will need this frequency. Businesses can schedule their backups to meet their specific operational needs and recovery point objectives (RPOs).
Datto’s high backup frequency is made possible in part by its inverse chain technology, which uses ZFS’s “copy on write” capability for greater speed and efficiency (each unique block of data is saved only once and is referenced by all of the restore points that use it).

Yes, automatic backup testing is available on the Datto SIRIS and ALTO. Referred to as Screenshot Verification, this process automatically builds and boots each backup as a virtual machine and performs context-sensitive tests to confirm that it is working properly.
SIRIS allows you and your MSP to not only see if the protected system is bootable, but also verify that applications are accessible.

Datto’s Cloud Deletion Defense provides an extra layer of protection in case cloud backups are deleted accidentally or maliciously. Similar to the functionality of a Recycle Bin, it provides a limited window for MSPs to retrieve deleted agents directly from Datto. The feature is available for SIRIS, ALTO and NAS.

Datto SIRIS 5 is available in several models with a max storage capacity of 60TB for the top-end model. The smaller all-Flash SIRIS 5X offers a storage capacity of up to 2TB. The base SIRIS 5 models are 2TB-4TB. The IU rackmount SIRIS offers between 6TB-36TB, while the 2U version offers 48TB-60TB.
Be sure to use the 2-3x multiplier rule when sizing your SIRIS. Your Datto device should have a storage capacity of 2-3 times the space of the machines being protected, at minimum.

The Datto SIRIS is commonly deployed as a dedicated on-premises backup device that stores backups locally and replicates them to the Datto Cloud. However, SIRIS can also be deployed as a virtual machine (Virtual SIRIS), imaged onto existing hardware (SIRIS Imaged) or as a self-contained Private Cloud (SIRIS Private) by deploying two physical SIRIS devices.