Netgear ReadyNAS Integrated With Symantec Backup Exec

NETGEAR, Inc. announced that its ReadyNAS line of storage appliances for Small- to Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) now supports the Remote Agent for Linux and UNIX Servers (RALUS) for Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers.

Installed directly on the ReadyNAS appliance, the Symantec-produced Backup Exec agent communicates directly with Symantec Backup Exec software, providing significant performance improvements for backup, restore, archive and disaster recovery solutions in Backup Exec environments. NETGEAR is the first vendor delivering sub-$5,000 storage systems to partner with Symantec on such functionality.

"Our work with Symantec is indicative of our commitment to providing SMBs with a full range of options in order to store, share and protect their data," said Paul Tien, vice president and general manager of NETGEAR’s Networked Storage Business Unit. "As a leading SMB storage vendor, this kind of cross-vendor support is proof of our commitment to this market. ReadyNAS owners and channel partners are building ever more powerful solutions at a more affordable price point with industry leaders like Symantec."

The Remote Agent extends the advanced agent technology of Backup Exec software beyond Windows and NetWare to meet the needs of emerging business applications on Linux operating systems. By improving communication between Linux-based ReadyNAS systems and Backup Exec servers, the agent dramatically increases efficiency and results in significantly reduced backup and restore times in Symantec Backup Exec environments.

Ian Moran, an MCSE with UK reseller Konnexion, experienced definite results: "Disk-to-disk backup performance with the RALUS Add-On for ReadyNAS runs at 3GB/minute. Most importantly, I am now managing backups from various systems using a single tool without error messages or concerns. Thanks to NETGEAR and Symantec, my SMB customers now have a cutting-edge backup and recovery solution to cut costs and reduce management pain even further."

RALUS for Backup Exec provides high-performance, network-wide data protection and recovery for 32 and 64-bit remote Linux and UNIX servers, including support for Intel Xeon EMT64, Intel Pentium EMT64, AMD Athlon, and AMD Opteron processors. The agent installs directly on the ReadyNAS appliance as a RAIDiator Add-On. Priced at $395.00 and licensed from Symantec, the RALUS Add-On is supported by Backup Exec versions 10.5 and newer and is available for download at both Netgear’s and Symantec’s Web site.