Symantec Corp. announced a new version of its Veritas NetBackup
PureDisk remote office backup product that improves integration
with NetBackup (NBU) and is the first step toward adding
deduplication to NBU, an update the company expects to be completed
by summer.
Prior to this announcement, integration between NetBackup and
PureDisk went about as far as the name. With this release, PureDisk
now supports tape through NetBackup. Users can export PureDisk
backup data to tape, as well as perform direct recovery from tape
using NetBackup. The 6.1 release had been shipping to users for
several months, according to Symantec, but the integration with
NetBackup, as well as new support for Microsoft SQL and Exchange
applications, had not been announced before now.
Now, Symantec is opening the kimono on its plans for the product.
Over the next quarter, according to Symantec's senior group manager
for NetBackup Mike Adams, the product will be updated so that
PureDisk's disk-based backup processes and NetBackup's exports to
tape can work together.
"Beginning this summer, you'll see a massive integration between
the two products," Adams said. Once the integration is complete,
the software will be offered in three different packages: one for
remote office, one for data center or a combination of both. The
latter of which essentially amounts to bringing deduplication to
NetBackup -- the better to compete with Avamar Technologies Inc.,
acquired by EMC Corp. last October.
"They're bringing this into line with Avamar," said Lauren
Whitehouse, analyst with the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG),
calling the current integration "a great first step." Whitehouse
speculated that the integration will probably come through the
OpenStorage API set to be released with
NetBackup version 6.5, due out midyear.
Also a part of the 6.1 release is new support for application,
including Microsoft SQL and Exchange. Previously, the product
supported Windows file systems only. Further updates are on the
way, according to insiders, including support for Solaris, Unix,
AIX and virtualized environments. Over the next year, the product
will add support for more applications, including Oracle and
SharePoint Portal, according to Adams.
"The nice thing about PureDisk is that it can be revved pretty
cleanly," Adams said. "So if a customer comes to us with an
application they want supported, we can do it very quickly."
Similar enhancements coming for System Recovery
Support for Exchange, as well as new centralized management for
Symantec's Backup Exec System Recovery software, is also slated for
release as version 7.0 on April 17, according to recent
communications to the press by Symantec.
"Centralized management was available in the 6.0.X series (then
named LiveState Recovery) of the [System Recovery] product and was
removed in the 6.5.X series," a 7.0 beta tester told
SearchStorage.com on condition of anonymity. "So I wouldn't wonder
if they reintroduce it in 7.0." The removal of the feature may have
had something to do with the integration between LiveState Recovery
and Backup Exec to form the new System Recovery product under the
Symantec banner last year, insiders speculated.
Users interested in a bug fix for a problem that was recently
causing the program to freeze in some environments won't have to
wait that long, sources said. According to the 7.0 beta tester, a
patch issued in 6.5.4 addressed the issue, which was causing backup
jobs to "hang" and fail in version 6.5, according to postings on
one of Symantec's user forums.