eWeek Magazine
by Evan Koblentz
November 17, 2003
New storage tools aim to ease data backup and replication chores
A fresh round of storage tools for data backup and replication will debut
this week from three midsize ISVs.
St. Bernard Software Inc. and BEI Corp.'s UltraBac Software backup tools address
user problems such as protecting open files and avoiding clogging networks.
Meanwhile, provisioning and replication tools from Fujitsu Software Technology
(Softek) Corp. target storage area networks.
St. Bernard's OFM (Open File Manager) 9.1 has been made block-based—a method
that lets an application transfer data in efficient chunks regardless of how its
boundaries are defined in actual files. It also guards against hidden data being
overlooked, which often happens with file-based products, according to company
officials, in San Diego.
OFM supports most major backup applications and in the future will support Linux
through St. Bernard's work with partner Novell Inc., of Provo, Utah. OFM 9.1
also supports Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Server 2003 Volume Shadow Copy service.
"We're using it on a wide variety of servers. I like that it doesn't take up all
that [many] resources" compared with competitive products, said Russ Beer,
network administrator at Halogen Software Inc., in Ottawa. "I think they've got
the product pretty much solid."
At Comdex in Las Vegas this week, UltraBac will announce UltraBac Disaster
Recovery Gold, which conducts system image backups and—unlike the prior Pro
version—is now bootable. The new version also backs up to FTP servers and to
IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager; early next year, it will back up to dissimilar
hardware as well, CEO Morgan Edwards said.
Next month, UltraBac, based in Bellevue, Wash., will upgrade its file backup
program to UltraBac Enterprise Edition 7.2 with a new central server index,
Edwards said. In addition, a major release due in 12 to 18 months will support
disk-based backup and tape management.
Meanwhile, Softek this week will announce Provisioner 2.2 for Linux, Unix and
Windows. Due next month, the software will support Windows Server 2003, multiple
management interface instances and unequal mirrored volumes, company officials
said. In addition, Softek's Replicator 2.1 for Windows has a common remote
console and performance management features; the Unix version has been updated
with new resource loading and Oracle Corp. scripts. Replicator 3.5 for IBM's
z/OS has new offline volume access, TCP/IP support and double buffering,
officials said.
Despite the version numbers, the products are new, as they are expanded
versions of features formerly in the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's TDMF
(Transparent Data Migration Facility). TDMF itself has a new version, 3.5 for
z/OS, now with double buffering and session validation, officials added.
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