Symantec raises bar for next-generation information management

Issued by Emerging Media Communications for Symantec

Johannesburg, 08 Jul 2009

Delivering on its data deduplication strategy, Symantec Corporation has announced new releases to its NetBackup Platform, to help organisations improve operational and storage efficiencies across physical and virtual environments.

NetBackup provides quick recovery of information and reduces overall complexity by uniting next-generation information management technologies for disk backup, data deduplication, virtual machine protection, continuous data protection (CDP) and replication in the heterogeneous enterprise data centre.

“Deduplication is a primary focus for Symantec, and we will continue to deliver innovative technology that helps organisations achieve significant storage and cost savings while providing advanced recovery capabilities and centralised management to meet our customers' demanding business requirements,” said Marc Dijkstra, storage and availability specialist, Symantec. “We are confident the latest releases of NetBackup will further raise the industry standard for quality, scalability and reliability.”

News facts

* The next release of NetBackup PureDisk, scheduled to be available later this year, will require 50% less server hardware, by expanding backup data storage to 16TB per backup server. This will enable organisations to lower their storage cost by deduplicating more backup data - up to 160TB - with one PureDisk server. PureDisk now stores up to 8x more data than source-based deduplication competitors on comparable server hardware. The new release will also improve deduplication for VMware image files (VMDKs) to reduce virtual backup storage requirements by up to 90% versus previous versions.
* The latest version of NetBackup delivers a highly efficient process for single file restore for virtual machines for both Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware, including vSphere, by allowing organisations to restore virtual machine information directly from disk or tape without using additional storage. NetBackup also allows organisations to restore data quicker and in fewer storage and server cycles by providing the ability to restore any file from within a single virtual machine image.
* NetBackup extends its support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008, achieving “Certified for Windows 2008” status. New Windows features include Symantec's patent pending Granular Recovery Technology for SharePoint and Active Directory to allow object-level recovery from a single-pass backup and provide organisations with rapid recovery of Windows Servers.
* Veritas Backup Reporter adds reporting for Enterprise Vault to provide a single view of both backup and archiving activities, such as identifying the quantity of archived data by business unit or geography. This provides simplified operations and better predictions of storage consumption, making Backup Reporter the first and only heterogeneous reporting solution to unify reporting across backup and archive.
* Symantec also delivers new benefits for organisations using data deduplication from third-party storage appliances through its OpenStorage API. New OpenStorage features enable faster recovery from disk at replicated sites and faster backup to deduplication appliances using less bandwidth through a “virtual synthetics” feature, allowing customers to conduct incremental backups on a daily basis and instantly re-synthesise full backups on supported appliances for duplication to tape. Organisations can send fewer full backups to their backup servers and storage to save time and bandwidth.

Supporting quotes:

* “With IT organisations under constant pressure to manage information more efficiently and effectively, having a robust toolset has become a business imperative,” said Laura DuBois, research director in the Storage Software group at IDC. “Symantec's ongoing enhancements to its backup and recovery technologies demonstrate that the company understands the needs of IT organisations, knows how to meet those needs and can deliver timely solutions that produce measurable results.”

Availability/pricing

* NetBackup 6.5.4 is available now at a suggested starting price of R40 750 per server
* Veritas Backup Reporter 6.6 is available now at a suggested starting price of R1 450 per client for backup data and R42 per Exchange mailbox for Enterprise Vault reporting
* NetBackup PureDisk 6.6 is scheduled to be available in late 2009

Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organisations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available at http://www.symantec.com.

Note to editors: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in US dollars and are valid only in the United States.

Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the US and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Forward-looking statements: Any forward-looking indication of plans for products is preliminary and all future release dates are tentative and are subject to change. Any future release of the product or planned modifications to product capability, functionality or feature are subject to ongoing evaluation by Symantec, and may or may not be implemented and should not be considered firm commitments by Symantec and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.

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Symantec raises bar for next-generation information management

NetBackup Platform extends unique recovery capabilities for Microsoft and virtual environments, while enhanced deduplication reduces costs and improves manageability.

News facts