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Symantec Delivers Innovative Data and System Protection for Virtual Machines and Windows Server 2008 Environments


WEBWIRE

LAS VEGAS – VMworld 2008.– Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the latest release of its Backup Exec product family to provide comprehensive data and system recovery of virtual and physical systems and support for the Windows Server 2008 portfolio. Symantec also adds new Backup Exec systems management and enhanced storage flexibility for heterogeneous environments, allowing organizations to easily protect their data and systems as they grow.

As an increasing number of IT organizations are deploying virtualization into their production environments, they are faced with new data protection challenges, such as backing up virtual machines, meeting strict Recovery Time Objectives and managing these complex environments. As a result, organizations need an efficient and flexible approach to protecting their data and systems within both physical and virtual environments, while reducing server, network and storage requirements and improving recovery time and reliability.

Comprehensive Data Protection for VMware and Microsoft Virtual Environments

The new release of Backup Exec 12.5 allows organizations to easily protect their data and systems in a physical and virtual environment through one, simplified solution. Backup Exec leverages award-winning technology for virtual environments, first introduced in Symantec’s Veritas NetBackup, to provide comprehensive data protection for VMware Infrastructure, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and conventional physical systems from a single console, thereby reducing cost and improving management of multiple virtual and physical systems. Backup Exec also reduces complexity by enabling users to backup an unlimited number of guest machines within a VMware ESX or Microsoft Hyper-V host environment to disk or tape from a single agent. In addition, Backup Exec adds Symantec’s patent-pending Granular Recovery Technology to provide individual file-level and image-level recovery from a single pass backup. Unlike other backup solutions that require multiple backups to allow for granular recovery of files and folders, as well as entire virtual machines, Backup Exec allows users to recover data on a granular or image-level via one backup to reduce the recovery time and the footprint of the backup on storage resources.

Backup Exec also offers tight integration with VMware and Microsoft virtual management framework allowing backup administrators to have a global view of their virtual environment within the Backup Exec administration interface. Users will also benefit from automated configuration and setup of VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) without the need to create manual scripts. Backup Exec provides flexible whole guest virtual system recovery including the ability to rename a virtual machine, change LAN configuration and optionally power-up guest machines following restore.

Complementary to Backup Exec, Backup Exec System Recovery 8.5 provides additional support for virtual environments. Backup Exec System Recovery dramatically reduces system downtime by enabling organizations to immediately restore complete Windows systems in minutes, even to dissimilar hardware or virtual environments, in the event of a disaster or system failure. In addition, Backup Exec System Recovery helps users manage planned downtime by adding new functionality to schedule physical to virtual (P2V) system migrations. It also includes support for the latest virtual environments including VMware ESX 3.5, Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer 4.1 and will offer integration with the Altiris management platform to provide centralized backup and recovery of servers or desktops directly from the Altiris console. With the new version of Backup Exec System Recovery, IT administrators can capture a backup of a system in a pre-boot state without having to install any software on the system, especially useful for systems that will not boot Windows properly.

Enhanced Management and Scalable Platform Support for Added Flexibility

Symantec also introduces the new Backup Exec Infrastructure Manager 12.5, powered by Altiris, to add a new dimension to data protection systems management. Backup Exec Infrastructure Manager simplifies the upgrade process and patch management of Backup Exec installations, and reduces total cost of ownership through centralized license discovery, inventory and disk-capacity monitoring. Backup Exec Infrastructure Manager includes a web-based interface to allow convenient access and easy management of Backup Exec infrastructure from any location and presents the IT administrator with a graphical map of their entire Backup Exec deployment. In addition, Backup Exec optimizes efficiency of backup resources by allowing customers to share tape and disk storage media between Backup Exec media servers, remote NDMP-enabled NAS devices and Linux servers with the newly enhanced NDMP Option and new Remote Media Agent for Linux Servers.

New Support for Windows Server 2008 Portfolio

The latest release of the Backup Exec family provides new integration to support the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 portfolio, including Windows Small Business Server 2008, Windows Essential Business Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008. This new support adds flexibility and simplified management for users who are planning to upgrade to any of the new Windows Server offerings. Symantec’s patent-pending Granular Recovery Technology has been extended to provide rapid recovery of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server documents, sites and list items.

To help customers get the most out of their Backup Exec investments, Symantec Global Services is offering a range of consulting, education and support services. Symantec’s Remote Expert Installation Service is designed for small businesses and provides Symantec Technical Experts who deploy and configure Symantec Backup Exec software securely via remote access technology over the Internet. Available in the Americas only, the service includes full installation of the software, together with an overview of Backup Exec’s key features and functions, all delivered at a time convenient to the customer. Enterprise customers can leverage Symantec Consulting Services to maximize operational performance. Symantec Education Services also offers instructor-led and self-paced technical training, IT best practices education and custom learning services to help organizations optimize their technology. A range of Enterprise Support Service offerings are available to keep Symantec Backup Exec investments delivering maximum value.

Pricing and Availability

* Backup Exec 12.5 has a suggested price of $995 USD for a media server license. Each additional agent or option can vary in price from $395 USD to $3,195 USD MSRP; Backup Exec System Recovery 8.5 has a suggested price of $1,095 USD per server and $69 USD per workstation; Backup Exec Infrastructure Manager has a suggested price of $1,995 USD
* Backup Exec 12.5 and Backup Exec System Recovery will be available worldwide Oct. 6, 2008; Symantec Backup Exec Infrastructure Manager 12.5 is scheduled to be available late Fall 2008



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