Proper Data Protection

Businesses have so many kinds of important data stored in so many different systems that it can be difficult to pick the right type of protection. Critical data is stored on servers, on desktop PCs, and in note- books and PDAs, and it should be as secure as if it were sitting safely in the bunker of a data center.

Veritas Software Corp. last week unveiled a host of enhancements designed to help customers better manage all forms of data with less elbow grease. The enhancements include software for more automated backup and recovery of data on servers, desktops, and notebooks and a management console that lets administrators conduct predictive analysis for all scenarios the data could experience.

NetBackup 5.0 includes quicker recovery related to incremental backups of data, on-the-fly duplication of data thanks to disk-to-disk copies, and C-drive automated backup. Data Lifecycle Manager 5.0 lets customers create an index based on key words and set policies for automated archiving and retrieval. The CommandCentral Service 3.5 portal can create automated service-level agreements for the backup and recovery process, including charge-back services.

Veritas is giving customers a broad portfolio of functionality for data-center operations and information life-cycle management, says Yankee Group analyst Jamie Gruener. The products give users "a better handle on the cost and value of a process like backup and recovery," he says.

Arsenal Digital Worldwide Inc., a storage-services provider and partner of Veritas, is testing the products and hopes to be running them in the first quarter of next year. So far this year, Arsenal has run 1.2 million backups for customers. Randy Whitehead, chief operating officer, says NetBackup 5.0's automated tracking and monitoring should help the company's process of moving data to backup libraries.