We are pleased to announce availability of the SolarWinds® Backup 18.4 release. This release adds some new features, some improvements to existing features and resolves some customer reported issues.

NOTE : If you are one of our Software Only partners, and use your own storage nodes, make sure to read the important message about the storage node software below. (**)

Improved RTO and RPO with “High Frequency” backup scheduling

We have extended backup profiles to feature “High Frequency” scheduling to help you deliver improved RTO and RPO for your customers. The schedule tab displays intervals available for that profile. By enabling these at the profile level the new schedule is available for multiple devices.

New – User Role for Improved Security
We’ve added a new role of security officer. Only SuperUsers identified as a security officer will be able to request the passphrase for automatically deployed devices that are using a system generated encryption key.

In the user management section of the Console, there is now a checkbox to identify the user as a security officer.

Every partner / customer / group level should have at least one security officer from the active users.

New – Custom Columns in the Console
The console provides status at-a-glance. In this update, we have introduced the ability to add custom columns to the view.

Once a custom column has been created, click the check box on the left to insert it into the current view. Easily arrange positions, save, or export the view.

Adding content to the columns is as simple as performing a mouseover and clicking the edit icon. Easily create a custom column for storing device asset tags, billing references, identifying systems that have been retired or decommissioned or other useful data.

Please note, we strongly discourage storing sensitive information like encryption keys or passwords in custom columns.

Improved – Restore Tab in Backup Manager
The Restore tab has been simplified to enable a faster, more intuitive, way of selecting the desired day / session. A calendar view and available session list is shown so you can quickly select exactly which session to restore.

Also, the restore location has been simplified, to prevent accidental overwritten files. You now have the option to restore to the original location, or to choose a new location.

New – Historical Charts in Console
The console now displays historical data in a graphical view. This allows you to easily monitor the growth of storage by partner or subset or selection.

Improved – Backup Accelerator V2
We have expanded the scope of our Backup Accelerator to boost performance. The Backup Accelerator tracks changes between successful backups removing the need to perform a full scan of the system every time.

Improved – LocalSpeedVault self healing / auto-disable
A failed and offline LocalSpeedVault represents a significant risk to data recoverability if it contains data that has not been transmitted to cloud storage. For improved recoverability, we have auto-disabled synchronization for a failed state for a period of 14 consecutive days.

Any unsynchronized / unavailable backup sessions will be invalidated. The next backup operation will then synchronize the most recent version of selected data.

(**) : The latest Storage Node software installers can be found in the Advanced Download section of the Management Console or on the download section of our website. A video walk through is available for Windows and Linux storage nodes.