CA Delivers New DNA Software

Desktop DNA r11 arrives with an improved ability to capture more incremental data from networked PCs, said Allan Andersen, director of product management at CA, Islandia, N.Y.

The advantage of capturing more incremental data is that administrators will spend less time performing PC image migration, a huge benefit to companies migrating large fleets of PCs, said Andersen.

"If you are planning a very large [PC fleet] rollout, a week prior to the rollout an administrator can take a backup of the systems using DNA. Then, on the day you are doing the full job, you just have to run an incremental migration, only sending along the changes that have been made since the incremental, meaning a much lower load on the network and much less time spent," he said.

System images and data from damaged or stolen PCs can be be re-created on new systems using DNA r11, said Andersen.

Help-desk administrators can also use DNA r11 to support network users who experienced partial system crashes or inaccessible applications. In such an instance, help-desk personnel can either reinstall an application's specific user configuration that was saved during an incremental backup or use a generic, default configuration, said Andersen.

DNA r11 is available to the vendor's wider, non-Enterprise Solution Provider channel and through CA's online store, said Andersen. Distribution changes announced this week by CA allow for an April 2 deadline for the availability of CA's commercial products through distributors Arrow/MOCA, Access Distribution and Avnet Partner Solutions.

Andersen said resellers should consider recommending DNA r11 to their customers when they sell large numbers of PCs.

"Every time you sell someone 10 machines, chances are those machines are replacement machines and they'll need a migration solution," said Andersen.

Pricing for Unicenter Desktop DNA r11 starts at $22 per node for 100 nodes, with volume pricing available, according to CA.