To provide a means of backing up very large databases without impacting information availability, EMC and Informix have forged a technical agreement to further integrate aspects of their software offerings. According to Graham Prime, senior product manager at EMC South Africa, the company`s TimeFinder and SRDF (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility) enterprise storage software will now work closely with the external backup and restore features of the latest Informix Dynamic Server. "Companies have differing requirements for database backup and recovery. For those relying on large-scale critical applications on a daily basis, up-time and availability is critical," he says. EMC TimeFinder and SRDF software allow Informix users to create multiple, separately addressable copies of their production database while the Dynamic Server remains on-line. The secondary copy of information can be used to backup the databases to tape while freeing the production system and network from heavy backup-related tasks. "The copies can reside within a single EMC Symmetrix Enterprise Storage system through TimeFinder or in a physically separate Symmetrix located hundreds of miles away through SRDF. This provides added business continuance and disaster recovery capabilities," explains Prime. "By offering customers the ability to conduct on-line backups of Informix databases, we are eliminating a major source of scheduled downtime - and a major source of frustration for those needing 24x7 access to that information." These latest developments extend technical and marketing initiatives launched by Informix and EMC when the latter released its open systems product line in 1995. Prime says the companies will continue joint activities that provide value add and further differentiate their joint offerings.
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