Barracuda Networks learned about the value of archiving the hard way--by getting sued by Trend Micro. Now Barracuda, best known for its anti-spam products, has two new e-mail archiving products aimed at customers with up to 6,000 employees.

Companies involved in litigation often have to produce electronic records, including e-mail. An archive simplifies the process by providing a single store of messages. Without one, companies will find themselves digging through backup media to find messages related to the litigation.

No one knows this better than Barracuda. At the time it was putting its archiving product together, the company was sued by Trend Micro, which claims that Barracuda violated its patents surrounding the use of antivirus scanning in a gateway device.

Barracuda uses the open source ClamAV virus-scanning engine in its e-mail gateway appliances. The company has vowed to fight Trend Micro's suit and is rallying the support of the open source community.