LiveVault Has A Lock On Online Backup

LiveVault InSync from LiveVault, Marlborough, Mass., is an outsourcing service that completely removes tape from the data protection equation and deploys the newest disk-to-disk technologies to ensure a successful backup and fast restore.

Solution providers and their customers can enjoy a wide range of benefits when outsourcing their data protection needs using a service such as LiveVault InSync. Businesses can avoid having to make costly hardware and software infrastructure investments. Also, outsourcing a digital archive solution saves the customer from having to hire and train additional IT staff, fulfill retrieval requests, store and manage physical media (such as tapes or platters), preserve and migrate media, and oversee associated data center activities—all time-consuming and expensive tasks.

By outsourcing, customers pay only for the services they require. Outsourcing also opens space a company would otherwise have to lease or purchase for the storage. Solution providers that offer LiveVault InSync to their customers are providing a low-cost, long-term, easy-to-manage solution that addresses the business and legal issues of archiving data that tape backup traditionally does not address. Taking advantage of LiveVault's technology and its marketing strategy, resellers can build recurring revenue streams while solving their customers' backup and recovery issues. Reseller margins start at 20 percent.

A small agent, downloaded via the Web, sits at the server and continuously captures data changes on the server. Once the agent becomes aware of the data changing, it packages up the changes, encrypts and compresses the data and sends it to a site backed by the company's own management infrastructure. The data then resides on the server for as long as the retention contract dictates. LiveVault sells 30-day, one-year and seven-year service contracts.

Once the agent is installed, there are no daily backup tasks for the customer's IT staff to handle anymore. It then becomes an on-demand service. For example, say the company wants to add a new server. The administrator simply would open a Web browser and use the GUI to handle the task.

The only time interaction is necessary is when the company needs to do a restore, but other than that the contact between the service and the IT staff is minimal.

The service is finicky, however, when it comes to browsers. The LiveVault InSync Backup and Recovery Service site currently supports only the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser, version 6.0 or higher.

Once incremental changes to the data are recorded, data is backed up to a secure, remote facility where it is always available for immediate online recovery. With LiveVault's help, resellers can create offline secure facilities for data storage.

Having access to files all the time can come in handy if a company is pressed for an audit or has regulatory compliance issues. Regulatory compliance has become commonplace in virtually every business environment. Companies are constantly faced with litigation and regulation issues that require them to store important documents, and they're usually unprepared to deal with specifications for storage media, data authentication, accessibility and audit trails.

For example, financial institutions must adhere to both the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which aims to protect consumers' personal financial information held by financial institutions, and the Patriot Act, an antiterrorism bill that expands the government's authority over surveillance methods.

In addition, health-care organizations must abide by HIPAA provisions, which regulate how patients' medical records are managed and communicated electronically.

The LiveVault service allows for quick access to files and compliance issues to be easily regulated if need be. LiveVault has been selling its service through the channel since 2001. Within the LiveVault Reseller Program there are two levels: Silver and Gold. Silver partners can move up to Gold status based on sales volumes and technical certification.

Resellers must commit to technical and sales training prior to selling the service. Pricing for the service starts at $119 per month for a 5-Gbyte server and increases based on server size.