Yosemite Simplifies Backup Software Automation, Pricing For Channel

The San Jose, Calif.-based vendor's Yosemite Backup Advanced allows data to be backed up to a three-tier architecture, from expensive primary disk to lower-cost secondary disk to either physical tape or virtual tape, said John Maxwell, senior vice president of product management and marketing.

The software sits on one server in a network and handles the backup and recovery operations on all the other servers, regardless of vendor, said Maxwell.

The software features self-tuning logic for automatic backups. It also handles restores by looking at every physical resource on the network to determine the appropriate mix of bandwidth, and sets up multiple data streams to optimize operations, Maxwell said.

The software enables partners and customers to create of hundreds of virtual tape libraries out of a heterogeneous pool of storage devices. It also allows up to three storage pools to be set aside for spillover, preventing backup failure caused by lack of space, he said.

For compliance, users can set policies to automatically move data from tier to tier. The software can securely erase data from migrated tiers, according to Department of Defense standards, said Maxwell.

Maxwell said Yosemite knows it is entering a crowded. But he described many vendors in the automated backup and recovery market as offering multiple SKUs defined by operating system and number of CPUs.

Yosemite instead hopes to appeal to solution providers with a single version of the software, regardless of operating system, and with prices that vary according to amount of data stored, he said. "It complicates the selling process to worry about the number of CPUs," said Maxwell. "One CPU or 100, it's the same price. And there's no CPU node-locking. You can move the software from CPU to CPU."

About 70 percent of Yosemite's sales go through OEMs such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Gateway, while 30 percent go through the channel. Maxwell said the company plans to reverse this ratio in the next couple of years.

To do so, Yosemite this week is also implementing a new channel program, including a deal registration program offering an extra 10 percent margin for 90 days on all potential deals registered by solution providers.

Since Yosemite does not sell direct, solution partners can expect no channel conflict with the vendor, Maxwell said. "There's no grayness with Yosemite," he said. "We list our full list prices on our Website, but solution providers can set their own prices."

Yosemite Backup Advanced is shipping this week. List price is $3,499 for software for the backup master server, which controls the backups of up to 100 other servers. Price for the software is $1,699 per SAN media server and $399 per client server. Disk-to-disk-to-tape capability starts at $1,699 per terabyte.