Features - Storage Innovations:

ALACRITUS & RHAPSODY TO DEVELOP DISK-BASED VTL LIBRARY

Storage innovators Alacritus Software and Rhapsody Networks announced that the two companies are working together to develop a disk-based Virtual Tape Library (VTL) solution that utilizes the performance of intelligent storage networking devices. Alacritus' Securitus virtual tape library system will be available on Rhapsody's line of storage application directors to meet the demand of enterprise customers that need a high-performance, scalable, and cost-effective data protection solution for data backup and restore. Securitus is a breakthrough data protection and backup solution designed to be used with a wide range of disk subsystems as a more reliable, efficient, and easier-touse alternative to tape libraries.

The result of the partnership will be the first network-centric Virtual Tape Library (VTL) application in the marketplace. End-user benefits and return on investment stem directly from an improvement of up to 10 times in backup throughput, an order-of-magnitude improvement in reliability of disk media vis-a-vis tape, and greatly simplified backup management and configuration. Because the Securitus software emulates standard tape libraries, the plug-andplay solution can be deployed in enterprises without any change to existing backup methodologies or procedures.

Securitus also allows multiple data backups to be performed simultaneously to the same VTL appliance, including major backup and restore applications from Legato, VERITAS and Computer Associates.

Rhapsody Networks' line of storage application directors utilizes a new storage architecture that reduces the cost and complexity of managing storage area networks (SANs), allowing storage applications to span an unbounded number of SAN-connected hosts and storage systems. Based on Rhapsody's patentpending Xpath technology, these platforms centralize storage application software within the SAN itself, not on the host or storage systems.

"The cost of disk storage has been plummeting in recent years, making diskbased systems a cost-effective new storage medium for backup and other dataintensive applications. Alacritus has been in the industry vanguard, developing software to deliver disk-based backup," said Bill North, research director for storage software at IDC.

"The Alacritus approach has the advantage of maintaining the media management schema, so information can be restored more quickly and with higher data integrity. As a result, Alacritus' approach offers a robust, easy-to-use solution that can shorten the time to data recovery, a major issue in information management today." North added, "This development between Alacritus and Rhapsody exploits both the rapid advances in disk technology and the advent of centralized storage management intelligence within the storage network. This combination makes possible a wider range of virtual tape solutions that promise to deliver both simplified data growth management and excellent performance, so customers should expect reduced backup windows and more efficiency in their storage management activities."

According to Mike Klayko, president and CEO, Rhapsody Networks, this relationship demonstrates Rhapsody's strategy of working with key software vendors to deliver the best selection of storage applications for dataintensive enterprises. "By combining Alacritus and Rhapsody, we have a solution for large enterprises that massively improves the throughput of any existing virtual tape solution, eliminates downtime during backups, and leverages existing knowledge among storage administrators," said Klayko.

Alacritus Software CEO George Wilson said, "Rhapsody products with the Securitus software provide unprecedented performance - to help us set the bar even higher for next-generation virtual tape library solutions. Additionally, Rhapsody provides an easy-to-use and flexible interface that allows us to quickly adapt Securitus to Rhapsody's storage application directors."

Wilson emphasized that Securitus processes a high volume of data when it conducts virtual backups. "Unlike general-purpose appliances, the Rhapsody platform provides the high availability and scalability needed to maintain performance regardless of the size of the enterprise," he added.

About Alacritus Software

Alacritus Software creates high performing, highly available plug-and-play virtual technology for interoperable storage networks. This open, heterogeneous compatibility enables customer to utilize their existing software infrastructures.

The first product, Securitus, is a virtual tape library that serves as a replacement to library subsystems. The principals of Alacritus have been responsible for industry advances such as Celestra for serverless backup, the Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP), and Third Party Copy, among many others, including BudTool, the first backup and restore tool for networked, UNIX- based environments.

Alacritus Software is located at 1650 Holmes Street, Livermore, CA.

For more info, call 925-960-0695 or visit www.alacritus.com.

About Rhapsody Networks

Rhapsody Networks is a provider of intelligent storage networking products that reduce the complexity and cost of managing corporate information. Rhapsody products are based on patent- pending Xpath technology, which provides unprecedented scalability and flexibility for the management of enterprise storage area networks.

Rhapsody Networks is headquartered in Fremont, California, and can be reached at 510-743-3000 or visit www.rhapsodynetworks.com.