Symantec has launched new backup and recovery products - just in time for the eagerly-awaited release of Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 later this month.
Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8 have been designed specifically to meet the needs of users who want security software optimised for Windows Server 2008, although the vendor was keen to stress that both would work with previous versions.
Indeed, Symantec confirmed that the imminent Microsoft release was the main reason it decided to release its own backup products now: "That is really the number one message, support for the new platform from Microsoft," said Pat Hanavan, vice president of product management at the Symantec data centre management group.
Hanavan said it was vital that end-users had protection for Windows servers, otherwise it would soon cost through lost money and productivity: "Today's mission-critical environments must be quickly recoverable in the event of a system failure or disaster in order to avoid the revenue and employee losses that too often result from downtime," he said.
"[The Symantec software] enables administrators to get their Windows systems back and running fast so they can meet strict recovery time objectives with confidence and minimise the impact of system downtime," Hanavan added.
One of the new features of both versions is a 'granular restore option' which enables administrators to copy recovery points to a remote server. It offers users the ability to recover Microsoft Exchange boxes, folders, messages and attachments without long backups.
Symantec said that the Backup Exec 12 was aimed at larger businesses because of its more diverse capabilities. Backup System Exec Recovery 8 was targeted at the lower end of the market such as small businesses, with less training required to make use of its functionality.
