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    NewsEDGE - February 2005

Availability

BackupEDGE 2.1 is now shipping for the following platforms:

• SCO OpenServer 5.0.4 - 5.0.7
• SCO UnixWare 7.1.0-7.1.4
• IBM AIX 4.3 and later
• Linux systems running 2.4.x kernels on Intel IA32 architecture
• Linux systems running 2.6.x kernels on Intel IA32 architecture
• Fedora Core 3

Current Build Levels

The current release of BackupEDGE 2.1 should be installed by all current 02.01.0x or 02.01.0x users:

• OpenServer is at 02.01.01 build 3
• UnixWare is at 02.01.01 build 3
• AIX is a 02.01.01 build 3
• Linux versions (all) are at 02.01.01 build 4

FTP backups are real, they're fast and customers are continuing to find ways to use them that we hadn't envisioned. We expected the obvious; backing up multiple systems to the same NAS, performing multiple backups per day, clients building their own storage server, that sort of thing.

Some of the fastest adopters found a use we hadn't considered; replacing or supplementing marginal tape drives on older systems with disk space that's plentiful on the network, saving thousands.

Attached Filesystem Backups

You can perform backups to anything you can mount; secondary hard drives, unused filesystems, USB drives, NFS filesystems, etc. Just remember, you also have to be able to mount it for disaster recovery, and you don't want RecoverEDGE accidentally erasing it. For this reason, we recommend that the new "backup to mounted filesystem" capabilities be used only to removable drives, or to storage space not critical for disaster recovery, such as "just before month close" backup repositories. Use FTP backups for all network backups, as it is fully integrated into RecoverEDGE.

Dual Layer DVD Media

02.01.01 build 3 and later support Dual Layer DVD +R media, essentially doubling write capacity on drives with this capability. Media is write-once, and still a little expensive, but coming down in price. It will just be recognized as a DVD with a higher volume size.

Any Media Backups

Although not documented in the manual, BackupEDGE does media detection on a per-medium basis. This means that, on a device with the proper support, you could perform a backup where the first volume was a DVD+RW, the second a CD-R, the third a DVD-R, and the fourth a CD-RW. Or, if you were just over the capacity of a DVD, your second volume could be a writable CD. Since BackupEDGE queries each  piece of media and determines a volume size and write strategy, and blanks or formats media as appropriate, you have maximum flexibility for changing media types in emergencies. Even if you put in a mini-DVD or postcard CD, it will work perfectly. We don't think any other product can do this.

Command Line Backups

We recognize that although people will get the most benefit from using EDGEMENU and scheduled backups, there are still some people more comfortable with the command line, especially in legacy environments. BackupEDGE can write to optical media, REV drives, and even FTP accounts right from the command line, as easily as writing to a tape drive or a file:

edge cvf dvd0 /home
edge cvf rev0 /usr2
edge Mf url0 -zSLOTNAME="Master0215" .

Each of these is a valid command. All appropriate information about the Resource is gathered from the setting in the EDGEMENU Resource Manager. Again, we don't think any other product can do this.

NAS Notes

Many commercial NAS devices have little information in their manuals about configuring FTP accounts. For this reason we have started a new section in our "Whitepapers" repository on configuring FTP for different company's products. This will also go into future revisions of the User's Guide. The first edition of our NAS Guide contains setup information on Iomega devices. It can be found at:

ftp://ftp.microlite.com/media/current

Command Lines with NAS

Archives can be managed and deleted from EDGEMENU, even if you made them from the command line. If you do need to manipulate archives to NAS devices from the command line, there are tools for this. A section of the User Guide is devoted to the edge.nasmgr and edge.segadm command. Additionally, the edge.label program can print human-readable labels for backup segments.

Linux 2.6.x and Fedora Core 3

There is a new distribution series available for 2.6 kernels. Files begin with "edgelx26" as opposed to "edgelnx6", as in "edgelx26.elf".

02.01.01 build 4 completes our "standard" release for Linux 2.6. This supports all devices, and has RecoverEDGE disaster recovery capabilities for systems that are NOT configured with the LVM2 Logical Volume Manager. 02.01.02 with LVM2 support is now in beta, with release anticipated before the end of February. For a copy of the beta with LVM2 support, please email beta@microlite.com. For those wanting the finalproduct when available, please email sales@microlite.com with a quick note indicating you want to know when we ship. Only people who email in will be notified.

Software RAID support will not be part of the updated release. We recommend that for disaster recovery protection, only systems with base filesystems and/or LVM2 be deployed.

Fedora Core 3

Because of the frequency of updates to Fedora Core 3, support is on a "best effort" basis. While we will make every effort to keep up with the latest patches to it, we cannot guarantee that they will not be introduced faster than we can qualify them.

Web Services Improvements

There are now three HTML wrappers which can be used to launch the Web Services interface:

1. WebServices.html replaces the original of the same name and      provides slightly more screen real estate.
2. WebServicesPlain.html essentially removes all borders and provides      maximum screen real estate for the largest font sizes.
3. WebServicesWide.html is designed to keep the screen aspect ratio      normal while using the new generation of wide screen displays.

In short, we provide all storage types with a maximum, not minimal feature set, and hide the technical details from users, making the support Transparent.

Iomega REV Deployment

Iomega would like to know how many of you are using the REV drive with UNIX or Linux, so I thought I'd take an informal survey. If you are using or recommending the REV with BackupEDGE, please drop me a personal email (tom@microlite.com) and let me know how many REV drives you areusing or have recommended.

A Distribution is a Demo is an Update is an Upgrade

The licensing technology built into BackupEDGE allows us to create a single distribution for each platform which serves four functions...

1. When first installed, it is a 60-day evaluation.
2. After registration/activation, it is a fully licensed product.
3. If installed directly over an existing release from the same series, it becomes a free update. Your current license remains in place.
4. If installed over an existing release from an older series, it becomes an upgrade, which must be activated with a purchased upgrade license.

Best regards,

Tom
D. Thomas Podnar
President
Microlite Corporation

http://www.microlite.com

2315 Mill Street
Aliquippa PA 15001-2228 USA
888-257-3343 724-375-6711
724-375-6908 Fax

BackupEDGE, RecoverEDGE and Transparent Media are trademarks of Microlite Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are those of their respective owners.

Last Modified Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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