Retrospect 6.5 Now Available for Windows

[Mayoff]

Retrospect 6.5 for Windows is now available. For complete details, please visit the www.dantz.com.

 

Below are a partial list of changes since Retrospect 6.0.

 

Product Name Changes

Proactive Client Backup is now the Proactive Backup add-on.

 

New Products and Services

Retrospect Small Business Server is designed to protect Microsoft Windows® Small Business Server 4.5 and 2000, and it backs up and restores the server as well as any networked desktop and notebook computers. Retrospect Small Business Server includes the Exchange Server Agent, the SQL Server Agent, and the capability to create a disaster recovery CD for the Small Business Server computer. See the Retrospect Small Business Server datasheet for more details.

 

Support and Maintenance options gives you access to the most current upgrades and updates of Retrospect products, as well as quick and easy access to our expert technical support staff. See the Support and Maintenance datasheet for more details and availability.

 

New and Improved Features

Retrospect 6.5 includes a number of new and improved features:

 

Multiple Executions

Retrospect server-level products now maximize backup performance by enabling multiple simultaneous operations. Retrospect 6.5 supports up to eight simultaneous backups or restores to eight separate destinations to maximize backup performance with an appropriate configuration. Multiple simultaneous disk backups is included with all Retrospect server-level products. Multiple simultaneous backups to multiple tape drives requires the Advanced Tape Support add-on (see Retrospect add-ons below).

 

Retrospect 6.5 supports configuration changes - including logging in clients, changing preferences, and modifying or creating scripts - while backups and restores are in progress.

 

Tape Library changes

Tape library support is greatly improved with all Retrospect server-level products. Retrospect 6.5 supports barcode readers to quickly inventory all tapes in a library, includes automated tape drive cleaning based on drive usage, and allows defining specific tapes in a library for use with a particular Backup Set. The Advanced Tape Support add-on supports multiple tape drives (see Retrospect Add-ons below).

 

Microsoft Exchange Server Integrations

Microsoft Exchange Server backup support is now integrated with Retrospect 6.5 instead of being a separate application. The Retrospect Exchange Server Agent supports both database backups and mailbox/brick-level backups (see Retrospect Add-ons below).

 

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server backup support is included Retrospect 6.5. The Retrospect SQL Server Agent supports database level backups with automated restores to the point of any backup (see Retrospect Add-ons below).

 

Client Disaster Recovery

Disaster Recovery add-on for Retrospect server-level products now supports client disaster recovery in addition to local server disaster recovery for complete disaster recovery for one computers on the network (see Retrospect Add-ons below).

 

Windows Server 2003

Retrospect 6.5 includes support for Windows Server 2003 backups and complete restores. The Open File Backup and Disaster Recovery add-ons have been updated to support Windows Server 2003.

 

Client Updated

The improved Retrospect Client for Windows increases network backup performance 10-20% while also reducing CPU overhead on the client computer.

 

Client now supports multiple NIC Cards on all operating systems, including Windows 98 and ME. Users no longer need to configure the Bindlistner when using multiple network cards or IP addresses.

 

New Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor provides a centralized view of all active, scheduled, and proactive Retrospect operations. The Events list highlights major issues and provides notification where Retrospect requires attention, such as media requests. Additionally, the history list provides quick access to the all the information of the last 100 operations.

 

E-mail Reporting

E-mail reporting notifies the administrator or group of administrators of events requiring attention, including media requests, media failures, and computers that become unavailable for backup because they have gone off-line. Retrospect?s integrated e-mail functionality supports both SMTP and authenticated SMTP.

 

Linux Support changes

Retrospect Single Server 6.5 and Small Business Server 6.5 now support Linux clients. Previously this functionality required Retrospect Multi Server. Retrospect Multi Server is still required for Solaris clients.

 

Retrospect now supports Linux files greater then 2GB in size.

 

Terminal Server Support

Windows security model changes to support SQL and Exchange Servers and improved share level backup. Improves support for remote administration using Windows Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Connection.

 

Launcher Service

Users no longer need to modify the Launcher Service to backup network drives via Microsoft Networking with automated backups.

 

CD/DVD Drive Configurator

The CD/DVD Drive Configurator now tests DVD recordable drives in addition to CD recordable drives. It has also been improved to support multiple writing methods for greater compatibility with the latest CD/DVD drives that have not yet been tested by DantzLab.

 

Improved Open File Backup

Retrospect Professional 6.5 adds Open File Backup on local and client Windows XP systems with NFTS volumes using Microsoft?s Volume Shadow Copy Services.

 

Changes have been made to Open File Backup to improve stability during restart and shutdown

 

Backup Set Creation Wizard

The Backup Set wizard makes it easier to create disk and tape Backup Sets

 

Export Selectors

Selectors can now be imported and exported to share with other users or sites.

 

Short Filenames

Backup and restore of short filenames (8.3 names) using new Microsoft APIs provided with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

 

Subvolume Creation

You can now define multiple subvolumes with a single operation.

 

 

Functionality Changes for Upgrade Customers

 

Automatic Skip to Blank Media

Automatic skip to blank media preference is enabled by default for new Retrospect installations. If the last backup set member required for backup is not available, Retrospect uses any erased or blank tape, adding it as the next member in the Backup Set. Upgrading customers can enable this functionality by clicking Configure>Preferences and then browse to Media Request preferences to specify this option.

 

Pre-Named Media Usage

Scripted recycle backup no longer defaults to using correctly named media without confirmation. Retrospect generates a media request unless the new Automatically reuse named media preference is selected. Upgrading customers can restore the previous functionality by clicking Configure>Preferences and then browse to the Media Erasure preferences to specify this option.

 

Media Request Dialog Boxes

Media request notification requests no longer display in the foreground. In Retrospect 6.5, media request dialogs display when the Executing tab of the Activity Monitor is selected. To view media requests pertaining to a specific execution, simply highlight that execution, and the media request dialog will appear. If an execution is currently waiting for media, Retrospect also adds an entry to the Activity Monitor?s Events tab and will send an e-mail if notification is enabled.

 

Immediate Operations

All Retrospect 6.5 immediate operations run in unattended mode. The Unattended options Dropdown Menu in the Retrospect toolbar uses the look ahead time in Configure>Preferences to determine behavior upon completion.

 

 

Retrospect Add-ons

The following options are available as add-ons to Retrospect Small Business Server, Retrospect Single Server, and Retrospect Multi Server:

 

Proactive Backup

The Proactive Backup add-on significantly simplifies administration of backup operations including those for notebook computers. Its intelligent automation includes a self-adjusting scheduler, automatic retries, recognition of notebooks and other computers when they connect to the network, and intelligent utilization of backup media. Proactive Backup ensures that all computers are backed up by recognizing and addressing issues that traditional backup software does not handle. If the allotted backup time is not sufficient to protect all computers, or if a computer is not available during the scheduled backup time, Proactive Backup recognizes the issue and prioritizes those computers for the future backups. This saves the backup administrator from having to review backup logs and write new backup scripts daily. An excellent data protection solution for notebook computers, the Proactive Backup add-on automatically detects and prioritizes notebooks for backup when they connect to the network. The Proactive Backup add-on is licensed to protect one Retrospect-based backup server and all the client computers it backs up.

 

Disaster Recovery

The Disaster Recovery add-on enables a bare metal system recovery of Windows-based computers, avoiding the time-consuming installation and configuration of an operating system. Create a disaster recovery (DR) CD for a backup server and any client computers that are being backed up. Only Retrospect can create a DR CD for a computer after it has stopped working. This is possible because Retrospect gathers the data required for disaster recovery as a normal part of the backup process. Retrospect stores that information in the Backup Set, where the Disaster Recovery wizard can access it to create the DR CD. Retrospect is unique in its ability to create a DR CD for a point in time where only an incremental backup was performed. When a computer boots from the disaster recovery CD, it loads the operating system, drivers, and the Retrospect application or client. The Disaster Recovery add-on is licensed to protect one Retrospect-based backup server and all the client computers it backs up. Retrospect Small Business Server edition includes local DR, which can be extended by purchasing the Disaster Recovery add-on for clients that are being backed up.

 

Open File Backup

The multi-volume Open File Backup add-on protects files that are open and in use, as well as hundreds of business critical server applications that run twenty-four hours a day including e-mail, database, CRM, accounting, or other proprietary applications. For desktop and notebook computers, backups can take place while e-mail applications and other desktop productivity applications are in use. The Open File Backup add-on is licensed to protect all the open files and applications on the Retrospect-based backup server and all the Windows client computers that use the NTFS file system that it backs up.

 

Exchange Server Agent

The Exchange Server Agent add-on provides fast, precise backups of Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange Server 5.5 while they are up and running twenty-four hours a day. It can protect individual mailboxes - or the entire Exchange Server-- with full backups, or with log/incremental or differential backups of the Exchange database, which are significantly faster than full backups because only new and changed data is backed up. The Exchange Agent add-on is unique in its ability to simplify the procedure of restoring an Exchange server to a specific point in time. The Exchange Agent add-on is licensed for use on one Exchange server. The server that is running Exchange Server must also be running the Retrospect application or the Retrospect Client. Use this add-on with Retrospect Multi Server to run backups over the network for a server that is running Exchange Server and the Retrospect Client.

 

SQL Server Agent

The SQL Server Agent add-on provides fast, precise backups of SQL 2000 Server and SQL Server 7.0 while they are up and running twenty-four hours a day. It can protect individual databases or the entire SQL Server with full backups, or with differential, log, and log no truncate backups, which are significantly faster because only new and changed data is backed up. The SQL Server Agent add-on is unique in the way it simplifies the procedure of restoring a SQL server to a specific point in time. The SQL Server Agent add-on is licensed for use on one server running Microsoft SQL Server. The server that is running SQL Server must also be running the Retrospect application or the Retrospect Client. Use this add-on with Retrospect Multi Server to back up a server over the network that is running SQL Server and the Retrospect Client.

 

Advanced Tape Support

The Advanced Tape Support add-on dramatically improves backup times to tape libraries/autoloaders by enabling simultaneous operations to multiple single-tape drives, autoloaders, or tape libraries with multiple drives. The Advanced Tape Support add-on is licensed for use on one Retrospect-based backup server, and it supports any number of tape drives attached to that computer. This add-on is not required for the following features, which are already built into the Retrospect product: barcode support, automated cleaning tape operations, sequential use of multiple tape drives, and multiple simultaneous operations when backing up to hard drives.

 

Add-on Value Package

The Add-on Value Package is the most cost-effective way to purchase multiple Retrospect add-ons. It includes Proactive Backup, Disaster Recovery, Open File Backup, Exchange Server Agent, SQL Server Agent, and Advanced Tape Support. It is especially cost-effective if purchased as an integral part of a Retrospect software product bundle.