New Products

Storix has brought forth a new version (6.0) of its flagship backup and disaster recovery application, System Backup Administrator (SBAdmin). SBAdmin not only backs up data files to a network server, but it also provides the ability to rebuild a system from the ground up on different hardware environments. One can reconfigure the system to restore onto completely different hardware, change filesystem types, migrate from disk partitions to LVM or software RAID and so on. Examples of new features are a Web-based interface, Oracle DB backup, remote system installation and balancing of the CPU load against the backup size. Supported OSes include Linux and AIX; supported hardware includes all Intel-based (x86/Pentium), IBM pSeries (32/64-bit) and HP Integrity (Itanium 2).

www.storix.com

Vyatta's Open Flexible Router (OFR), upgraded recently to version 1.1, is an open-source LAN and WAN routing solution for small- to medium-sized businesses. OFR's product benefits include not only all standard routing protocols and high-availability and security features, but also the ability to customize the product and add features as needed. The latter feature gives users flexibility in managing future requirements on their own terms rather than relying on the actions of closed-source vendors. Vyatta also states that OFR allows one to deploy an “enterprise-class router for a fraction of the cost of a traditional closed-source, proprietary router”. This latest release adds support for T3 WAN connections and provides compatibility with third-party application packages from Debian GNU/Linux. Debian package compatibility extends OFR's capabilities to include third-party applications in the Debian universe, such as Openswan, Asterisk and ClamAV, among others. The OFR software is available for download from Vyatta's Web site.

www.vyatta.com

XenSource has gone hog wild with its concurrent announcement of three different virtualization products: XenEnterpriseT, XenServerT and XenExpressT. The products target the needs of “Fortune 50 enterprises, mid-market Windows standard server IT environments to technology enthusiasts and developers”, respectively. All three products share a common, open-source, Xen-based architecture, which makes “the upgrade path seamless between products”, sayeth XenSource. Xen allows multiple virtual server instances to run concurrently on the same physical server, with near native performance. XenEnterpriseT is designed for the heterogeneous environment of enterprises, delivering “bare metal” performance for virtualized guest operating systems. Meanwhile, XenServerT is intended for Windows standard server environments and “gives IT professionals a high-performance, easy-to-use virtualization platform for Windows”. Finally, XenExpressT is made for for developers and technology enthusiasts, offering a “comprehensive, production-ready, free product, which enables anyone to get started with Xen virtualization quickly”. All three products support Windows Server 2003/2000, as well as Windows XP, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Debian Sarge guests.

www.xensource.com