Panther is the project name for the continuous data protection software that began beta testing in May and was originally developed by Veritas Software Corp. The official launch name for the software will be Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server.
Panther’s launch will come only days after EMC last week unveiled a future update to its existing RepliStor software that creates a near-CDP tool, and only days ahead of Microsoft’s expected launch this week of its near-CDP software called Data Protection Manager.
All three of these products will compete for low-end and mid-range customers. Last month IBM beat all three to the punch with the launch of its eponymously named Continuous Data Protection product, which it says suits mid-range and enterprise customers.
Veritas will stress the web-based self-service file retrieval that Panther will offer end-users. Microsoft’s DPM and IBM’s CDP can match this, but EMC’s RepliStor cannot. Panther will also work with all critical files, databases and applications. Neither Replistor nor DPM can yet backup data from applications such as Microsoft Exchange.
Panther or more properly Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server will be part of a new version of Veritas low-end and midrange backup tool, to be called Backup Exec 10d. Backup Exec already supports disk-to-disk backup, but 10d will extend the support for disk-based backups, one source told ComputerWire.
