Working towards the day when backing up software will be a continuous, behind-the-scenes activity rather than a nocturnal system-stopper, Veritas Software Corp is readying new incremental database backup module, plus centralized management of NetBackup implementations on clustered servers for delivery later in the summer. In the meantime it is offering a new 3.1 version of its NetBackup software which offers multiplexed (parallel data streams) and independent restore capabilities, reducing data restoration time in the event of failure from days, to hours, the company claims. A new FlashBackup feature captures an image of the file system, either a Unix file system or Veritas file system, which is stored online before being streamed to off-line tape. NetBackup 3.1 reads only those files that have changed since the file image was captured. Prices start at $8,500 on Unix, $4,000 on NT servers. The NetBackup interface will be overhauled in the third quarter and there will be application- specific versions for SAP and Oracle available by year-end. Microsoft Corp is bundling a version of Veritas’ Volume Manager in NT 5.0 that will leverage a next-generation NetBackup release new in development.
