CA Takes Wraps Off Beta Version Of ARCserve 9

The update, expected to be available in September, is a complete rework of CA's flagship backup software, with new technologies to simplify installation and ease the burden of managing storage, said Marco Coulter, vice president of CA's BrightStor strategy.

Todd Huntley, president of SanServe, a Roseville, Minn.-based SSP, said the beta release signifies that CA is continuing its efforts to catch up with Veritas. The product competes primarily with Veritas' Backup Exec.

The best part of the new ARCserve is improved integration with other CA products such as storage resource management, Huntley said. "Our customers want products with common tools that allow them to set policies across their enterprise," he said.

In the latest version, every screen was modified with the aim of changing the workflow of the backup and recovery process, including cutting the number of mouse clicks involved in each operation, Coulter said.

A scheduling feature eases administrators' workloads by automating routine tasks such as drive cleaning and database maintenance in the same way backups are routinely scheduled now, he said.

The software also allows separate backup paths to be defined within a TCP network to reduce the possibility that the network will become clogged during backup operations.

A complete command-line interface now allows better integration of the ARCserve management software with other storage products, Coulter said. The application now works with Windows XP Professional and is slated to be certified with .Net soon, he said.

The software will continue to be available exclusively through two-tier distribution.

JENNIFER HAGENDORF FOLLETT contributed to this story.