Spectra Logic Announces New Version of Alexandria Backup and Archival Librarian Software.BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1998-- New Version Adds Linux Support, Provides Greater Functionality, Ease-of-Use, and Reliability Spectra Logic Corp. Tuesday announced the availability of Version 4.50 of its award winning Alexandria Backup and Archival Librarian software. Alexandria 4.50 adds a number of significant new features to provide users with greater functionality, reliability, and ease-of-use for backup and recovery of large distributed databases and data center applications. "We are committed to providing our users with comprehensive, field-proven backup and recovery solutions that simplify the daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin task of data protection in today's large, heterogeneous environments," said Nathan C. Thompson, Spectra Logic founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "Alexandria Version 4.50 adds new features that provide our customers with unparalleled performance, functionality and manageability, all with minimal system overhead." Expanded Platform and Library Support Spectra Logic is the first major backup vendor to support the increasingly popular Linux operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. (OS) software. Alexandria 4.50 has been ported to Red Hat and Slackware Linux OSes, and additional ports are being developed for Linux OSes from SuSE, Caldera caldera: see crater. caldera Large, bowl-shaped volcanic depression that forms when the top of a volcanic cone collapses into the space left after magma is ejected during a violent volcanic eruption. The term is Spanish for “caldron. , and TurboLinux. Alexandria Linux support is available on the Red Hat distribution CD or from Spectra Logic's website at www.spectralogic.com/linux/index.htm. "We are excited to see Spectra Logic take a leading role in supporting Linux in the storage arena," said John Corbett, editor of Linux Weekly News (www.lwn.net). "As the Linux OS begins to gain critical mass in corporate America, it's critical that corporations have a proven solution for backing up data. Spectra Logic is providing that solution." To better meet the needs of its customers, Spectra Logic has also added support to Alexandria Version 4.50 for AIWA AIWA Asian Immigrant Women Advocates AIWA Armenian International Women's Association AL-210 and 310 libraries and the Storage Tek 9734 Datawheel. Added Functionality Oracle Backup Personality -- Alexandria 4.50 adds several new functions to support both Oracle 7 and Oracle 8 databases. To enable users to perform point-in-time backups/restores of large, mission-critical Oracle databases with minimal impact on production environments, Alexandria 4.50's Comprehensive Oracle Backup/Recovery Agent (COBRA), the industry's fastest and most reliable Oracle backup/restore engine, now supports EMC (1) (EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, www.emc.com) The leading supplier of storage products for midrange computers and mainframes. Founded in 1979 by Richard J. Egan and Roger Marino, EMC has developed advanced storage and retrieval technologies for the world's largest companies. Timefinder software. Alexandria 4.50's COBRA agent now also supports clustered Oracle OPS Ops (ŏps), in Roman religion, goddess of harvests. She was the wife of Saturn, by whom she bore Jupiter and Juno. At her festivals, the Opiconsivia and the Opalia, held in August and December, respectively, she was worshiped as a goddess of sowing (Oracle 7.x and Oracle 8.x) databases. With this support, Alexandria can track, backup and restore Oracle data in a clustered environment, even as the data migrates from node to node, or library to library. With TimeFinder, users create a mirrored copy of their Oracle data called a Business Continuance Volume A copy of the contents of a disk or drive array at a point in time. Kept off site, the business continuance volume (BCV) is used for disaster recovery. Also called a "business copy volume" or "split mirror." (BCV BCV Banco Central de Venezuela BCV Banque Cantonale Vaudoise BCV Bovine Coronavirus BCV Business Continuance Volumes (EMC Technology) BCV Beach Club Villas (Disney resort) BCV Battle Command Vehicle ). Alexandria's COBRA agent puts the Oracle database or individual tablespaces into backup mode and splits the BCV. Once the split is complete, the database or tablespaces are taken out of backup mode and Alexandria continues the backup operations. By splitting the BCV, which only takes minutes, the production database becomes fully available to users. Alexandria COBRA support for TimeFinder has been certified by Spectra Logic for Oracle 7.x, 8.x and OPS on HP-UX HP's version of Unix that runs on its 9000 family. It is based on SVID and incorporates features from BSD Unix along with several HP innovations. (operating system) HP-UX - The version of Unix running on Hewlett-Packard workstations. and Sequent Dynix. The combination of COBRA and TimeFinder is an ideal solution for large On-Line Transaction processing (database) On-Line Transaction Processing - (OLTP) The processing of transactions by computers in real time. (OLTP (OnLine Transaction Processing) See transaction processing and OLCP. OLTP - On-Line Transaction Processing ) and data warehousing See data warehouse. data warehousing - data warehouse environments with 7X24 operation, where system down time can result in the loss of thousands of dollars per minute. Alexandria 4.50 also includes full support for Oracle's Recovery Manager (RMAN RMAN Recovery Manager RMAN Recovered Materials Advisory Notices (US EPA) ) backup Application Programmer's Interface (API). Alexandria users will now be able to use Alexandria's sophisticated scheduling algorithm to schedule incremental backups of their Oracle databases. Together, Alexandra and Oracle RMAN provide a powerful solution in disaster recovery situations, enabling users to recover Oracle databases quickly and easily even in heterogeneous UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). environments. Alexandria's RMAN interface can be administered with the software's comprehensive Java graphical user interface graphical user interface (GUI) Computer display format that allows the user to select commands, call up files, start programs, and do other routine tasks by using a mouse to point to pictorial symbols (icons) or lists of menu choices on the screen as opposed to having to (GUI (Graphical User Interface) A graphics-based user interface that incorporates movable windows, icons and a mouse. The ability to resize application windows and change style and size of fonts are the significant advantages of a GUI vs. a character-based interface. ) or through Oracle's Enterprise Manager. Informix Backup Personality -- Version 4.50 adds support for interleaved operation in Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) databases, allowing multiple data streams to be written simultaneously to the same device. Multiple streams can be from the same database, or streams from multiple distributed databases. Interleaved operation significantly improves backup performance and complies with the XBSA XBSA X/Open Backup Services Application XBSA X/Open Backup Services Api standard API. Spectra Logic has also added a new high performance Java GUI to Alexandria 4.50's Informix module, improving ease-of-use and eliminating browser specific issues. Alexandria 4.50's Informix module now supports clustered Informix Extended Parallel Option (XPO XPO Exportin XPO Executive Petty Officer (US Coast Guard) XPO Operations Plans Officer (Wing) XPO Express Persistent Objects ) databases. With this support, Alexandria can track, back up and restore Informix data in a clustered environment even as it migrates from node to node or library to library. AlexClient/NT -- Alexandria 4.50 AlexClient/NT software now supports three levels of hot and cold backups, as well as automatic recovery of MS Exchange databases. These three levels include normal, incremental, and differential. The software can backup the complete MS Exchange database or individually backup either the Information Store, which includes the MS Exchange database, or the Directory Store, which includes user accounts and configuration. Additionally, users have the option of storing the Windows NT Registry files with the Exchange backup. AlexClient/NT is now available with a new Java GUI interface that enables users to backup Windows NT Registry files. The new version also includes NT Open Files agent software that allows users to backup open Windows NT files when used in conjunction with St. Bernard St. Bernard a very large (110-200 lb) dog with massive, broad head, medium-sized ears lying close to the head, and a long tail. There are two varieties, the most familiar (rough) has a long, thick coat, while the smooth variety has a shorter coat, lying close to the body. Software's Open File Manager. Open File Manager must be purchased separately. Greater Ease-of-Use and Reliability Alexandria 4.50 can divide a single tape library into two or more logical libraries and allow multiple hosts to access a single library. This feature eliminates the need to purchase, install and configure additional products such as Storage Tek ACSLS ACSLS Automatic Cartridge System Library Software ACSLS Automated Cartridge System Library Server or similar products in most cases, eliminating additional costs and a potential single point of failure. Alexandria 4.50 features an automatic binary update, or "push" technology, to simplify future software upgrades. Once Version 4.50 has been installed, future upgrades to all systems in an enterprise network can be accomplished automatically without user intervention, eliminating the need for system-by-system upgrades. Spectra Logic has embedded a context-sensitive help system in the X-windows and Java GUI of Alexandria 4.50 to make it easy for users to access help for virtually every function by selecting the help menu or right-clicking on a menu bar or field. When help is accessed, users receive a description of the function as well as the steps needed to complete the transaction. Alexandria 4.50 features a two-phase commit journaling saveset database to provide users with a robust backup environment that is virtually crash proof. When a system restarts after failure, all uncommitted transactions in the log files are automatically posted to the Alexandria database. As a result, the database returns to a logically consistent state without user intervention. While some other backup software products update their saveset database through the OS, Alexandria's design virtually eliminates the risk of corruption due to system failure. Availability, Upgrades, and Pricing Alexandria Backup and Archival Librarian Software, Version 4.50 is available immediately and can be purchased through the company's international network of value-added resellers (VARs), distributors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and the company's direct sales force. Spectra Logic will upgrade all current Alexandria customers with valid support agreements to Alexandria 4.50 at no additional cost as they have with all previous software upgrades. Pricing for Alexandria 4.50 varies according to each customer's specific environment and is quoted on a customer-by-customer basis. About Spectra Logic Corporation Since 1979, Spectra Logic has served as a premier developer of backup software, tape library hardware and librarian software. The Boulder-based computer storage company manufactures a variety of high-performance data storage products for a broad range of platforms. More information on the company can be found on the Internet at http://www.spectralogic.com. NOTE: Alexandria Backup and Archival Librarian, AlexClient/NT, Alexandria and Spectra Logic logos are trademarks of Spectra Logic Corporation. All other names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective companies. |
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