CA unveils ARCserve Backup upgrade

Computer Associates (CA) has today unveiled the latest versions of its BrightStor ARCserve Backup software, with usability and performance enhancements driven by customer feedback.

The new versions include ARCserve Backup release 11 for Windows, along with ARCserve Backup for Laptops and Desktops release 11 and a Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) Edition software bundle.

David Liff, CA's vice president of product marketing for BrightStor, explained that the new features came from feedback on the beta versions.

"Thousands of customers gave us feedback resulting in improvements covering ease of use, reliability, scalability and some innovations - for every size from a single server up to the largest enterprise," he said.

ARCserve Backup for Laptops and Desktops (previously called BrightStor Mobile Backup) now has the same data protection as the server backup software, and the two can be integrated.

The SBS Edition bundle includes Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, open files and Windows workstations agent software. All products are sold entirely through CA's resellers.

John Campbell, business manager for storage solutions at CA distributor Computer 2000, said: "CA certainly seems to have turned a corner.

"Release 9 [the previous release] of ARCserve was a really well-liked product by those that tried it. Release 11 looks to be another big step forward.

"If CA promotes it well among end-users, it will generate healthy returns for those resellers savvy enough to look for the solution sale."

Among the enhancements, backup multiplexing allows up to four backup jobs to run concurrently, all writing to the same disk or tape media. This can boost overall throughput by running a tape drive at full speed.

Campbell said that this vastly decreased back-up times in multi-server environments. Liff claimed that one customer cut runtime from six and a half hours to two using this feature.

It includes a new report writing capability, including a 'pre-flight check' to analyse scheduled backup jobs for correct media and security to help administrators pre-empt problems with overnight backups before going home.

Liff said that the 168-bit triple DES encryption met financial institutions' requests for security.

The Microsoft Exchange agent software enables separate message, mailbox and database backup and restore, optionally selecting document types, folders or key words. They can include concurrent virus checking.

UK pricing for BrightStor ARCserve Backup for Windows is £547.02. ARCserve Linux and NetWare release 11 versions are due in April.