Remote backup and retrieval specialist, Attix5, has released the latest version of its proven Backup Professional solution offering greater flexibility in installation and operation and allowing end-users to customise features to meet their exact requirements.
"Attix5 Backup Professional v 4.0 has been redesigned to reinforce a universal brand and identity between the various products, Web applications, documentation and the corporate Web site, resulting in a product that is modern, trustworthy and dynamic," says Ian van Reenen, CTO at Attix5.
"Feedback from beta trials confirms that five years` R&D in the market has produced a solution that not only matches the international competition, but offers some very real advantages as well."
Heading the list is customisability. "We have found that user requirements differ substantially from vertical to vertical and even client to client," says Van Reenen.
"With Backup Professional v 4.0, users now have the option to integrate distributed data into their existing enterprise systems rather than having to swap out legacy equipment and configure the processes to cater for the abilities of the current environment.
"This translates into fewer upgrades to both servers and networks when rolling out the system and no compromise on data protection compliancy."
Attix5 Backup Professional v 4.0 product set incorporates the now familiar Storage Platform, Monitor & Deployment Modules, Web Access & Briefcase, Desktop and Laptop, Server Edition and Server Edition Application Plugins for online database backups - all compatible across the Microsoft Windows range of operating systems. Similar modules are available for both Novell Netware and Unix operating systems.
"Real-time backup monitoring ensures the Storage Platform will always be up to date with the latest backup instance. This makes it easier to differentiate between failed backups and backups where no data has changed," Van Reenen says.
In addition, intelligent analysis of previous backup activity extends the ability of the client to resume failed backups and allows a user to resend a failed backup without having to repeat the compression and patching process.
Other new features include a 24-hour Advanced Scheduler and the ability to specify a hard drive access delay in the Backup Client. The latter enables users to insert delays into the Backup Client`s hard drive access during the backup and restore processes to suit their requirements.
"This means that users can allow full access to shorten the duration of the process or limited access to slow down the process, thereby allowing the user to continue using other applications without any performance deterioration," Van Reenen says.
Server Edition memory usage, he adds, has been significantly improved by using a database for the file selection list. Data handling in excess of 5 million files can now be accomplished with minimal memory requirements.
Server Edition now offers two patching (the process to only extract the differences in a file to minimise the amount of data that has to be transferred to the Storage Platform) options, Binary Patching and Delta Blocking.
"The Delta Blocking process is significantly faster than Binary Patching and does not require a complete copy of a file in the cache to calculate the patch; only a footprint file. Footprint files require very little free disk space as a single footprint file is only a small percentage of the original file," Van Reenen says.
Further functionality is provided by the ability to update Server Edition Backup Clients from the Storage Platform. Users can now auto-update any Backup Client in their organisations from a single central management console.
Says Van Reenen: "Server Edition connects to the Storage Platform before data compression starts, during the backup process, to verify that certain parameters are sufficient - eg the account limit and Dynamic Profiling settings. The backup process is cancelled if these parameters are not met and the user is notified. This functionality is also available in the Desktop and Laptop Edition if Dynamic Profiling is enabled.
"In addition, the Server Edition Plug-in Installer can be initiated during the Server Edition installation process, if it is in the same location. This feature allows the completion of all software installations before configuring the backup account, file selection and plug-in settings."
Users can now turn off SSL Encryption for faster backups and restores and restore functionality has been added to SE Remote Management enabling remote connection to the Server Edition backup client to restore files from any previous backup set.
Turning to the Storage Platform, Van Reenen confirms that three reports, automatically e-mailed to specified people when their requirements are met, have been added to the NameServer:
* Storage Platform Expiry Report - this report notifies the user a specified amount of days before the Storage Platform will expire.
* Group Expiry Report - notifies users before any of the groups on their Storage Platform expires.
* Mirror Report - a notification is e-mailed to the administrator as soon as mirroring is completed successfully.
Says Van Reenen: "Attix5 has an established presence in the financial services and consultancy verticals and we believe the new products will allow us to better deliver on the specific requirements of these markets as well and allow us to extend the benefits to new verticals.
"Corporate governance compliance is key in these verticals and our ability to provide a fully compliant and cost-effective solution without the need to rip out and replace whatever systems are already in place is sure to prove a telling factor as we seek to grow our market share."
Attix5, he adds, is currently aggressively targeting the public sector and education markets both locally and abroad. "We are confident that both these sectors are well suited to distributed network backup and that the improved remote management and lower infrastructural impact of Backup Professional v 4.0 will result in significant productivity gains and cost savings."
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