CommVault Simpana 8.0 Released

CommVault Introduces Simpana 8 Next-Generation Data Management Software with Industry's First Embedded Global Deduplication

Oceanport, NJ, January 26, 2009 -- CommVault 8.0 is now available. This major new release of the market-leading enterprise data management software now includes advances in recovery management, data reduction, virtual server protection, and content organization.

The breakthrough release helps companies manage larger amounts of data, scale to accommodate an expanding, globally distributed enterprise, and implement cost-saving strategies by offering users new snapshot-based data management, data deduplication, laptop and desktop protection, remote office data management and advanced copy management features.

The industry's first Global Embedded Software Deduplication, Simpana 8.0 reduces up to 90 percent of backup and archive data on tape. With the industry's first global embedded software deduplication, Simpana 8 offers a holistic approach to data deduplication that spans both disk and tape tiers of storage.

Unlike appliance-based solutions that limit deduplication benefits to the boundaries of the box, CommVault's unique, end-to-end approach expands the benefits of block-level deduplication across an entire organization's backup and archive copies, resulting in cost-efficient scaling and performance across the entire data management infrastructure. Data reduction begins at the client and spans through, and includes, off-site tape copies.This holistic approach results in faster network data transfers, shorter backup windows, faster recoveries and a more efficient utilization of the disk infrastructure to support customer recovery SLAs.

Simpana software automatically preserves the compressed state of the deduplicated data as it is transparently migrated to tiers of cheaper storage for longer retention needs. In the face of rising power and cooling requirements and escalating growth rates, deduplication with tape offers a game-changing advantage for customers by reducing the footprint of long-term vaulting or compliance copies by up to 90 percent. This translates into fewer drives, lower maintenance and less critical operating hours used.

Simpana 8.0's new Advanced Protection and Recovery Features increase reliability by approximately 20 percent and recovery speeds by up to 77 percent. As customers look for ways to manage larger amounts of data and implement cost-saving strategies such as consolidation and virtualization, Simpana 8 introduces new advanced protection and recovery capabilities that are optimized for mission critical systems, help reduce infrastructure complexity and manage data growth on the edge. These include:

Simpana 8 provides multiple options for protecting business critical data at distributed remote and branch office locations. These solutions facilitate WAN efficient transfers to pass compressed and encrypted data between sites, as well as rapid recovery that helps to minimize the risk and cost of downtime. Centralized, automated policies applied to data residing on workstations and laptops help facilitate compliance and search for rapid eDiscovery of both backup and archive data. End users can also perform their own recoveries, eliminating the need for local administrators and providing further cost savings.

New SnapBackup feature integrates seamlessly with hardware-based snapshot technologies to create persistent application and data consistent recovery copies directly from snapshots, bypassing the production server and virtually eliminating the need for an operational backup window.

With single virtual client support for VMware's industry-leading virtualization and management suite, VMware Infrastructure, and Microsoft Hyper-V, Simpana 8 includes a host of flexibility and usability options designed to simplify management of virtualized environments. Auto-discovery helps eliminate time consuming manual processes, while ensuring users meet their protection/recovery service level agreements. Users can conduct backups in an efficient off-host mode to minimize the impact on production and move just the changes to ensure seamless scalability.

Simpana 8.0's Content Organization Features streamline information classification of new and existing content for data retention, compliance and eDiscovery operations. Simpana 8 provides an innovative enterprise content classification engine that automatically classifies and categorizes content based on defined rules and search patterns. These link to workflow policies that seamlessly profile, organize and repurpose content to meet specific information management tasks, including legal hold for eDiscovery. Information assets are automatically organized into classification groups to provide users with better control over new and existing information. Rather than adopting a costly retention strategy across all data, required data is instead managed, retained and organized to meet specific business requirements, leading to improvements in access, operations and cost savings.

Simpana 8 software's new integrated workflow is designed to target information management processes with leading ECM systems and facilitates intuitive access to unstructured content. Pattern matched information is tagged according to how businesses want to view and organize their information and then placed within desired business taxonomies and records management tools. This allows business users to manage and access governance information themselves, reducing the business risk associated with compliance and potentially saving hundreds of hours while avoiding costly delays by unnecessarily involving administrators in a discovery.

Many of the new Simpana 8 features are available in simplified and consolidated pricing bundles aligned to popular use-cases to make configuration and purchasing simpler than ever. Businesses of all sizes – from SMBs to global enterprises to ISVs hosting tens of thousands of clients – will benefit from CommVault's product licensing. A single, universal electronic key that embeds all licensable options allows customers to centralize license management and deploy agents across the enterprise through a single "pane of glass" interface. Customers can effectively eliminate the manual, system-by-system, feature-by-feature license management and grueling annual audit process required by legacy vendors. CommVault's new Autoupdate service helps eliminate time-consuming installation tasks, enabling users to automatically install service pack updates or full version license upgrades to reduce operational and administrative burdens.

Availability: Following the release of 8.0 Service Pack 1, CommVault will expand its upgrade program to provide for Customer-led Simpana upgrades for those customers with an active maintenance agreement. If you are an existing EAGLE and CommVault customer, contact EAGLE for more information: contact@eaglesoft.com or 800-477-5432.

CommVault will cease support for its CommVault® QiNetix™ software suite version 6.1. See the information below for specific Product End-of-Life/End-of-Support Details..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Product End of Life/End of Support Details Timetable —

Date Support Ends For: Description
August 1, 2009 Error Correction CommVault will continue to deliver maintenance patches for QiNetix 6.1 during this 6-month period beginning February 1, 2009and ending August 1, 2009.

February 1, 2010 Extended Assistance Support (EAS) CommVault will provide telephone and electronic support, and fixes for known problems. For QiNetix 6.1,EAS will be provided until February 1, 2010. It does not provide error correction for new problems.

Please note that CommVault will gladly honor contractual stipulations for the above that are outlined in your CommVault Licensing Agreement.

Customer Action — CommVault strongly recommends customers upgrade directly to version 8.0 of Simpana software in order to maintain the highest level of support, performance and reliability for their products and systems. Please contact your EAGLE Sales Representative or EAGLE Customer Support to review CommVault Services’ early upgrade program and arrange for CommVault-led Simpana upgrade.

Customers new to CommVault will immediately purchase Simpana 8.0, which is available now. Following the release of 8.0 Service Pack 1, CommVault will expand its upgrade program to provide for Customer-led Simpana upgrades for those customers with an active maintenance agreement. Contact EAGLE support for more information.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EAGLE distributes a full line of storage and backup products including tape library backup solutions, backup and recovery software packages, and SAN and NAS storage solutions. EAGLE also provides pre-sales evaluation and design, integration and support services.

For more information on EAGLE's products and services, contact: EAGLE Software, 123 Indiana Ave., Salina, KS 67401; Phone (800) 477-5432; Fax: (785) 823-6185; email: contact@eaglesoft.com; website: http://www.storagebyeagle.com.

###

(back to newsletter)