Storage > BackupsEssentials

A data storage crash is the last thing a collision-repair shop needs to worry about. So when John Sweigart realized that the software he was using to manage his business was no longer compatible with the way he was backing up data, he knew it was time for a different option.

Dell is putting together hardware and software for backup and recovery in one system, with integrated software, for small and medium-size businesses.

The need to control and secure a continuing explosion of data across the corporate world is forcing IT managers to constantly be on the lookout for new equipment that can handle perpetually evolving requirements.

These days in IT, you can buy a service for anything - including, once again, your storage.

Data backups in virtualized environments are often ineffective and inefficient, Symantec officials said after surveying users at VMworld in Las Vegas.

De-duplication has become popular for backup data, but not for primary storage. Now, US start-up company Ocarina Networks wants to change that, with a data reduction technology which it claims can shrink live production data too - even if the file formats are already compressed.

Yahoo's Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) and Google's Gmail are considered the two leading pretenders to the corporate e-mail throne held by Microsoft's Exchange. But a small Austin-based vendor is using Zimbra to complement, not replace, Microsoft's market-leading e-mail server.

Virtualization is causing customers to rethink their backup strategies, with technology that combines pieces of traditional and well-understood enterprise backup with some pieces that are unique in the virtualized world.

One of the biggest selling points in last year's release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard was the inclusion of Time Machine, a nifty new app aimed at making that most onerous of tasks -- backing up data -- not only easy to do, but fun.

Symantec unveiled Symantec Online Backup and Symantec Online Storage for Backup Exec, a set of encrypted services designed to provide hosted data storage and disaster recovery services for small and midsize businesses.