Attix5 targets new markets with Backup Professional
v4.0 - ITWEB
[Johannesburg, 16 February 2005] - 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."
