New Products

Sony Introduces PetaApp

Sony Electronics recently introduced the PetaApp system for data backup, a pre-configured and pre-tested solution. According to the company, PetaApp is based on Sony's PetaBack software and DTF-2 (Digital Tape Format) tape drives, which have a data transfer rate of 24 MB/s. The PetaApp system provides a solution to centrally back up data in Network-Attached Storage (NAS), Storage Area Network (SAN), and heterogeneous storage environments. This packaged solution can enable serverless backup, customized backup size, and quick delivery to customers.

Customized to meet the capacity requirements of virtually any size enterprise, the PetaApp system comes pre-assembled with the Sony PetaSite Tape Library, DTF-2 tape drives, a Brocade SilkWorm Fibre Channel fabric switch, and PetaBack software. The complete system attaches to an enterprise network via a SCSI or Fibre Channel connection.

The PetaApp systems are now available. For more information, visit: http://www.sony.com/news/.

NetBoz Announces Firewall

NetBoz recently announced a burn-and-play firewall. According to the company, the NetBoz firewall boots from a CD-ROM, having nothing to install on the hard disk, and actually does not use a hard disk at all. The settings are managed through a Web administration system, and stored on a write-protectable diskette.

NetBoz can make a firewall of any Pentium-class PC, and allows the user to reach the necessary level of performance by adjusting the computer power to use (CPU, RAM, and network interface cards). NetBoz is based on FreeBSD and uses ipfw to implement the firewall features. NetBoz is available as freeware. For more information, or to download NetBoz, visit: http://www.netboz.net/.

STORServer Releases S10000

STORServer, Inc. recently began shipping the first of the S Series of its Backup Appliance, called the S10000. According to the company, the S10000 contains all the functionality of the larger STORServer Backup Appliances in a much smaller footprint. Pricing starts at $19,900 and the S10000 ranges in size from 90 Gb to 270 Gb, expandable up to 2.16TB.

The S10000 is configured as a tabletop/deskside system, or can be upgraded to mount in a standard 19" rack. The tabletop version has two pedestals -- one that holds the server and one that holds the tape library. The rack configuration uses 9U (just under 16 inches) of rack space . The optional rack KVM uses an additional 3U (just over 5 inches) of rack space. The S10000 is also expandable, both by upgrading the tape drives to AIT2 or AIT3, and by doubling the number of tape storage slots in the tape library.

For the S10000, customers must buy client licenses after the purchase of the appliance, and agents for their databases. Support on the S10000 is an annual fee, and STORServer offers both phone installation and on-site installation. STORServer appliances back up any LAN, SAN, and NAS-attached client that utilizes directly attached storage. The appliance supports 35 different platforms, including Windows NT/2000, Novell, HP/UX, SUN, AIX, and OpenVMS. Special fiber connections for SAN clients are also available. For more information visit: http://www.storserver.com.

Pocketec Introduces Pockey-DataStor

Pocketec recently introduced the Pockey-DataStor, USB 2.0 hard drive. According to the company, the Pockey-DataStor squeezes the power of a computer's internal hard drive into a small enclosure that measures 5 in x 3 in x 1/2 in. The Pockey-DataStor offers 20-GB, 30-GB, and 40-GB capacities and dozens of drives can be liked together via USB hubs to create a library of files.

The Pockey-DataStor is USB 2.0 compliant and offers transfer rates up to 480 mbps. The Pockey-DataStor is self-installing under Windows, ME, XP, and 2000, and is backward compatible to the older USB 1.1 standard. The Pockey-DataStor is compatible with laptop and desktop computers, PCs, MACs, Linux, and DOS.

Pockey-DataStor drives will retail for $199, $249, and $349, respectively. For more information, visit: http://www.pocketec.net.

Avax Announces Magnetic Tape Replacement

Avax International recently announced the availability of a family of high-performance units designed to replace a legacy 1/2" magnetic tape unit on computer systems, machine tools, and telecommunication switches. According to the company, the new DS-1000 and DS-2000 MTE (Magnetic Tape Emulator) systems are a direct replacement for 1/2" and DAT tape drives. The MTE units are compatible with systems that use either Pertec or SCSI connection to the host.

Systems that currently log to magnetic tape, or require input from legacy tape drives, can now use the Magnetic Tape Emulator and either write the data to CD or to a hard disk and transmit the data over intranet/Internet for remote access and collection. Model DS-1000 is for general applications and model DS-2000 is optimized for use with telecom switches where filtering, reformatting, validation, or provisioning is required.

The DS1000 and DS2000 Magnetic Tape Replacement units are available immediately. For more information, contact: http://www.avax.com/magnetic_tape_replacement.html.

Codehost Releases BrightQ v1.0

Codehost Inc. releases BrightQ, a software package that provides a user-friendly interface and adds increased functionality to printing in the UNIX and Linux environments. According to the company, BrightQ can allow a seamless convergence to exist between many flavors of UNIX, Linux distributions, and traditional Wintel and Apple technologies when it comes to printed output.

For more information, contact: Codehost, 8671 Hayden Place, Culver City, CA 90232; Phone: (323) 655-0001; Fax: (323) 655-0002; WWW: http://www.codehost.com/.

Sun Unveils Sun Fire V480 Server

Sun Microsystems, Inc. recently unveiled the Sun Fire V480 server, with up to four 900-MHz UltraSPARC III processors in a rack-optimized compact design. According to the company, the new server provides a rack-optimized, high-performance system with 9.6 GB per second throughput, 8 MB of CPU cache, and supports up to 32 GB of memory.

The new systems contain a DVD-ROM drive, two hot-swap (N+1) power supplies, two hot-plug Fibre Channel disks (36 GB), integrated dual 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet, RSC, and six PCI slots, in a 5 RU, 24-inch deep, rack-optimized chassis. The server also features front and back LEDs , provides automatic system recovery, and includes Remote System Control for monitoring and reporting system and component status.

The Sun Fire V480 server base configuration comes with two 900-MHz UltraSPARC III processors, 4 GB of memory, and two 36-GB Fibre Channel disks. Pricing starts at $22,995. For more information, contact: Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara, CA 95054; WWW: http://www.sun.com/servers/entry.

IBM Introduces Shark

IBM introduced an enterprise storage server that provides 2-Gbps Fibre/FICON data transfer rates. According to the company, the new IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server (ESS, code named "Shark") Model 800 and 800 Turbo enable "on the fly" configuration and management capabilities.

The Model 800 offers many new features, including a "turbo" configuration that handles up to 150% more workload, an expanded 64-Gb internal cache, increased internal bandwidth, RAID level-10 data mirroring and striping. For more information, visit: http://www.ibm.com/totalstorage/ess.

Guardian Digital Releases EnGarde Secure Professional v1.2

Guardian Digital, Inc. released EnGarde Secure Professional Release v1.2, an enterprise software solution that provides tools necessary to build an online presence. According to the company, the EnGarde Secure Professional integrated software solution can provide organizations with a cost-effective platform capable of supporting thousands of virtual Web sites and email domains.

Features include Web, email, database, and DNS services; pre-configured for ISPs, ASPs, and fast-growing enterprises; Gateway firewall including Network Address Translation (NAT), and port forwarding.

The EnGarde Auditing System provides real-time audit information to determine how the server is currently performing in addition to comprehensive hardware support, including ISA, RAID, SCSI, and USB.

For more information, contact: Guardian Digital, 3 Industrial Ave, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458; Phone: (201) 934-9230; Fax: (201) 327-7338; WWW: http://www.GuardianDigital.com.

Faximum Announces New Fax Software for Linux and Windows

Faximum Software Inc. recently announced a new release of its Fax Messaging Server (FMS) product, FMS 2. According to the company, FMS 2 runs on Linux, integrates with an organization's existing email server, and enables Windows, Mac, and Linux users to send and receive faxes as easily as (and using the same tools as) email.

FMS 2 enables users to send email to fax numbers (e.g. FAX=1-604-926-8182@fax.yourdomain.com), allows users to combine email addresses and fax numbers in the same message or email group, and enables users to receive their faxes in the same inbox as their email.

In addition to running on most Linux distributions, FMS 2 has been designed to install and work with the Caldera Volution Messaging Server and the SuSE eMail Server III. FMS 2 will also work with most SMTP email servers such as Microsoft Exchange. Ports to other UNIX platforms such as IBM AIX, HP-UX, SCO (Caldera) Open Server, and Sun Solaris are already underway.

An evaluation copy of the new FMS 2 software is available at: http://www.faximum.com/fms. FMS 2 software licenses start at $495 for 10 users. For more information, contact: Faximum, Suite 300, 497 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, BC, Canada V7Y 1B8; Phone: (604) 925-3600; Fax: (604) 926-8182; Internet: sales@faximum.com; WWW: http://www.faximum.com.

Reliaty Introduces Reliaty Backup

Reliaty recently introduced Reliaty Backup, the first data protection software developed on a Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) foundation, allowing backup and recovery of data from any point within a storage environment to any device, regardless of the server and storage platforms or location of the connections.

According to the company, Reliaty Backup preserves information on secondary storage so that it can be recovered reliably in case of disaster. This standards-based software can be used with Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, and also with UNIX, Linux, and Windows systems even if NAS is not present. Reliaty Backup can serve as the only data protection software required in heterogeneous environments. This, according to Reliaty, provides enterprises with a new means to safeguard critical business information, reduce IT costs, improve data availability, minimize additional staff training, and speed information access.

Reliaty Backup's Web browser interface allows remote administration, operation, and diagnosis over the Internet or an intranet. The identical Web browser interface on UNIX and Windows reduces training requirements in mixed environments.

Pricing for Reliaty Backup starts at $2,500. For more information, contact: Reliaty, Inc., Five Overlook Drive, Amherst, NH 03031; Fax: (603) 672-3154; WWW: http://www.reliaty.com.

Rainfinity Announces RainWall 3.0 and RainConnect 3.0

Rainfinity recently introduced new versions of its RainWall and RainConnect high-availability software solutions. According to the company, the new products make high-availability easy and affordable enough for small companies, as well as multinational corporations, to deploy beyond the data center, at virtually any location -- including remote offices, branch locations, warehouses, and partner sites.

RainWall 3.0, according to the company, can fail over to nodes distributed across a campus or metro-wide LAN and is suitable for embedding into network appliances and applications. Additionally, RainWall integrates closely with the new RainConnect 3.0 Internet connectivity product to maintain Internet connectivity despite ISP connection disruptions. RainConnect can provide high availability and load balancing across multiple Internet access connections. RainWall can increase reliability and speed for these security enforcement points by clustering two or more firewall and VPN servers together into a single redundant system.

RainWall 3.0 has also been re-architected with expanded open interfaces, Linux VLAN trunking support, and unlimited virtual IPs. RainWall can install directly on existing servers and firewalls and its open architecture helps it to integrate high availability and load balancing features into third party applications.

RainWall 3.0 is available now for Solaris 8 (64-bit and 32-bit), Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server, and Red Hat Linux 7.2 (2.4.9-31 kernel) operating systems. Pricing starts at $13,500. For more information, contact: Rainfinity, 2740 Zanker Road, Suite 200, San Jose, CA 95134; Phone: (408) 382-5000; Fax: (408) 571-1111; WWW: http://www.rainfinity.com.

VMware Announces ESX Server 1.

VMware, Inc. announced VMware ESX Server 1.5, the latest release of its virtual machine software for server consolidation. According to the company, VMware ESX Server 1.5 allows enterprises to implement server consolidation and consolidate applications and infrastructure services running on diverse operating systems onto fewer, highly scalable, reliable enterprise-class servers. With support for SCSI reservations, VMware ESX Server 1.5 enables clustering of virtual machines inside the same system for development and test purposes, or between systems for high availability

New and enhanced features in VMware ESX Server 1.5 include support for up to 64 concurrent virtual machines with adequate memory and storage resources; support for the PAE (physical address extension) standard for larger memory on the physical computer and system memory up to 64 GB of RAM; new resource management capabilities for regulating the amount of disk I/O bandwidth used by each virtual machine; improved memory management techniques for configuring and running virtual machines with total memory greater than the amount of physical RAM on the system; support for up to 3.6 GB of RAM per virtual machine; support for additional Gigabit Ethernet network cards; and support for Storage Area Networking configurations

For more information, contact: VMware, Inc., 3145 Porter Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94304; Phone: (650) 475-5000; Fax: (650) 475-5001; Internet: sales@vmware.com; WWW: http://www.vmware.com.

Imperial Technology Announces SANaccess LUN Security

Imperial Technology announced the availability of SANaccess software for LUN security in Storage Area Networks (SANs). According to the company, SANaccess is a data security feature that creates access protection for data volumes residing on an Imperial File Cache Accelerator when used in a SAN. Previously only available only in the SANaccelerator, SANaccess is now available as an optional feature for all MegaRam 2000 and 5000 products.

Operationally, SANaccess LUN security can enable UNIX operating systems and Windows-based operating systems to simultaneously share access to MegaRam File Cache Accelerators in both small and large SAN environments. Imperial MegaRam and SANaccelerator products are storage-centric architectural components where critical "hot files" are locked into a dedicated cache to ensure they are instantly available 100% of the time.

For more information, contact: Imperial Technology, 2305 Utah Avenue, El Segundo, CA 90245; Phone: (310) 536-0018; Fax: (310) 536-0124; WWW: http://www.imperialtech.com.

Lindows.com Announces LindowsOS SPX

Lindows.com, Inc. announced LindowsOS SPX, a "Broadband OS". According to the company, LindowsOS SPX is an operating system sold with a membership component creating a solution for broadband users. LindowsOS SPX allows applications to be digitally downloaded and installed at the click of a mouse, and individual machines can be customized.

For more information, contact: Lindows.com, Inc., 9333 Genesee Ave. 3rd Floor, San Diego, CA 92121; Phone: (858) 587-6700; Fax: (858) 587-8095; WWW: http://www.lindows.com.

StorageTek Releases SnapVantage

StorageTek announced the availability of SnapVantage, a Web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) software solution that facilitates the rapid deployment and recovery of multiple Linux virtual servers residing on Shared Virtual Array (SVATM) subsystems using IBM's zSeries mainframe computing platform including Virtual Machine (VM) and zLinux. According to the company, SnapVantage makes zLinux servers more efficient to manage and faster to deploy.

SnapVantage is available immediately and pricing starts at $25,000. For more information, contact: StorageTek, One StorageTek Drive, Louisville, CO 80028; Phone: (303) 673-5151; WWW: http://www.storagetek.com.