Modernizing data protection is no longer the hard part. The real pressure shows up when you need to restore quickly, predictably, and at scale despite ransomware risk, distributed infrastructure, and real-world network constraints.
That’s why we’re announcing Druva TurboTier, the evolution of what many customers have known as CloudCache. TurboTier is not a new product; it’s a clearer expression of the value we already deliver: a high-performance local acceleration tier that brings LAN-speed recovery to data center and remote/branch office (ROBO) environments, while preserving the cloud as the secure, resilient source of truth.
Why TurboTier, why now?
In data center and ROBO conversations, customers and partners often hit the same concerns:
- “We can’t meet aggressive RTOs without local recovery.”
- “Cloud-only backup won’t work with limited bandwidth at remote sites.”
- “We need local copies for compliance or operational confidence.”
TurboTier changes the conversation. It delivers fast local recovery points without pulling you back into the complexity, cost, and sprawl of traditional backup infrastructure.
What TurboTier is
TurboTier is a scalable, software-based local performance tier that complements direct-to-cloud backup and recovery. It’s fully managed through the Druva Data Security Cloud and can be deployed in minutes as a VM (or on supported Linux), then scaled out modularly as needs grow.
Instead of forcing an “either/or” decision between cloud simplicity and local speed, TurboTier enables a flexible routing model: protect workloads in the cloud, and add local performance where it matters most, based on workload SLAs.
How it works (in plain terms)
TurboTier sits on the same local network as your protected systems. During backup, Druva agents/proxies perform global, source-side deduplication, sending only unique blocks over the LAN to TurboTier. Backup metadata is stored in the Druva Cloud, decoupling recovery intelligence from the local instance and helping ensure recoverability even if local infrastructure is lost.
TurboTier then synchronizes deduplicated data to the Druva Data Security Cloud on a configurable schedule, commonly during off-peak hours, with bandwidth throttling to protect business-critical WAN usage, especially in ROBO environments. If TurboTier is unavailable (or data is older than what’s held locally), restores can pull the remaining blocks directly from the cloud.
The result: fast operational restores locally when you need them, and long-term retention plus cyber resilience anchored in the cloud.
Performance designed for strict SLAs
TurboTier is built for high-throughput, multi-stream backup and restore operations so you can meet aggressive recovery timelines without overbuilding infrastructure.
In tested configurations, TurboTier achieved up to 7 TB/hr restore throughput and up to 5 TB/hr backup throughput per instance.
For VMware environments, TurboTier also supports Instant Restore, enabling you to power on VMs in under five minutes for rapid operational recovery.
And when your environment grows? TurboTier uses a modular scale-out approach. Add additional instances to increase aggregate throughput linearly, without forklift upgrades or proprietary controller lock-in.
Built for distributed environments (and limited bandwidth)
TurboTier is a natural fit for both centralized data centers and remote offices:
- Data centers: accelerate backup/restore for critical VMs, databases, and servers; reduce WAN strain by staging locally; keep recovery fast and predictable.
- ROBO: protect sites with constrained WAN links and limited IT staff, while keeping management centralized in the Druva Cloud console.
TurboTier can also retain recent backups locally for up to 90 days, enabling frequent, fast restores while automatically tiering older data to the cloud for long-term retention and cost efficiency.
Resilience without reintroducing appliance risk
Traditional on-prem backup appliances often tie performance, metadata, and resilience to a single local system, creating new failure domains and operational overhead.
TurboTier follows a different principle: the cloud remains the source of truth. Druva stores backup metadata in the Druva Data Security Cloud and maintains an immutable, logically air-gapped “golden copy” of your backups, helping protect against ransomware, accidental deletion, hardware failure, and site-level disruption.
This architecture also enables rapid rebuild: if a local TurboTier instance is lost or compromised, you can redeploy and restore using the cloud-based catalog and protected backup copies.
Easy deployment across modern environments
TurboTier is delivered as a software appliance with flexible deployment options, including VMware OVA, Nutanix AHV QCOW2, and a Debian package for Ubuntu, so you can standardize local performance without adding proprietary hardware. Supported workloads include popular virtual platforms (VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Nutanix AHV), databases (Microsoft SQL, Oracle), file servers (Windows/Linux), and NAS.
The bottom line
TurboTier brings together what teams have been forced to choose between: SaaS simplicity and enterprise-grade cyber resilience, plus local-speed recovery for the workloads and locations that demand it.
If you’ve been told cloud-only recovery can’t meet strict SLAs, or you’ve struggled with bandwidth constraints at remote sites, TurboTier is built to help you move forward with confidence.