Symantec Corp. announced an evolution in the company’s next generation data protection strategy. Through a series of product updates to the Veritas NetBackup platform, Symantec raises the bar for complete data protection by integrating next generation technologies, such as data deduplication and continuous data protection, to provide improved manageability from a single solution. In addition, the NetBackup platform now offers granular recovery capabilities for Windows and VMware environments.

Organizations of all sizes are challenged with managing their disk backup storage growth and improving the speed and ease of recovery of application data, leading to increased complexity for IT administrators. To address these challenges, Symantec continues to enhance its data protection portfolio through technology synergies between NetBackup and Backup Exec in the areas of disk-based backup, virtual machine support, Windows protection, OpenStorage and recovery capabilities. Symantec customers across all market segments, from small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises, will benefit from the greater cross-product integration as it allows for improved manageability and an enhanced user experience.

The updated NetBackup platform leverages the power of an open architecture to deliver data center-class global deduplication and block-level continuous data protection. This software-based approach provides an alternative to appliance-based and array-based solutions as it allows customers to leverage commodity server and storage hardware as one collective grid and to easily scale their data protection storage environment as they grow their business.

Additionally, Symantec added the innovative Granular Recovery Technology it first introduced in Backup Exec to its NetBackup platform, allowing for quick recovery of an entire system or individual files, emails, documents and virtual machines from single-pass image backups of Microsoft Windows, Exchange, SharePoint and VMware servers. Symantec’s Granular Recovery Technology eliminates duplicate brick-level backups, saving time and storage space for IT administrators.

NetBackup RealTime Protection 6.5 Provides Increased Protection for Mission-Critical Applications:

• Adds true continuous data protection to NetBackup’s advanced recovery capabilities by capturing all changes to application data in real time, eliminating data loss and backup windows
• Integrated with NetBackup to improve users’ experience through application-consistent recoveries and immediate access to disk-based images
• Provides a cost-effective alternative to array-based snapshots, delivering space-efficient, storage-independent recovery images
• NetBackup Storage Lifecycle Policies automate the movement of RealTime data to longer term storage media, reducing administrative overhead

NetBackup PureDisk 6.5 Integrated with NetBackup Improves Manageability and Offers Scalable Deduplication for the Data Center:

• Only data protection solution to combine the best of all deduplication architectures (source-based, inline target-mode and post processing) into one shared storage pool to help customers maximize storage reductions
• Enables customers to store more backup data on disk and to recover data faster
• Scalability to handle hundreds of remote sites, data centers and multiple Petabytes of backup data
• Integrated replication provides comprehensive disaster recovery options and an alternative to shipping tapes between data centers
• Leverages any storage hardware and existing NetBackup environments for dramatic cost savings

NetBackup 6.5.2 and 6.5.3 Provide Increased Protection and Recovery for Enterprise Windows and VMware, and Enhanced Security:

• Expanded support for Microsoft applications includes granular recovery of Microsoft Sharepoint 2007, Exchange 2007 and Windows Server 2008
• Granular Recovery Technology will provide object-level recoveries (file, email, mailbox, item, etc.) from a single image-level backup, eliminating the need for running dual backups in SharePoint, Exchange and VMware environments
• Unification of data protection technologies for Windows across NetBackup and Backup Exec
• Enhanced data protection support for VMware with the addition of VCB incremental backups and Snapshot Client support in a virtual machine
• Higher availability and policy-driven encryption key management for NetBackup tape environments

Symantec Global Services Helps Customers Maximize their Data Protection Investments:

• Symantec Consulting Services for next generation data protection help organizations maximize their technology investments by accelerating deployments, integrating technologies into existing operations and operating environments with maximum efficiency and minimum risk
• Residency Services for NetBackup augment existing staff with onsite experts who fill key strategic IT roles for an extended period of time. These seasoned experts range from senior product managers to IT system administrators
• Symantec Education Services offers classroom, live online, and self-paced technical training on the full NetBackup feature set enabling successful installation, effective administration and basic troubleshooting minimizing reliance on technical support
• Symantec Protection Network provides two Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) backup offerings to help small and medium-sized businesses easily protect their data through a hosted, online solution
• Symantec Online Backup – provides secure, cost-effective, online backup and recovery as a standalone service
• Symantec Online Storage for Backup Exec – allows Backup Exec 12 users to store copies of backup files online in Symantec data centers for disaster recovery

Pricing and Availability
Symantec offers a five system NetBackup starter pack at a suggested price of $3,995 USD.
NetBackup 6.5.2 and NetBackup PureDisk 6.5 are available now; NetBackup 6.5.3 will be available in Summer 2008; NetBackup RealTime Protection 6.5 is scheduled to be available Fall 2008

For more information on Symantec data protection solutions