TimeData CDP Adds Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Support

Continuous data protection software vendor TimeSpring Software Corp. is the first out of the box to offer full Microsoft SQL Server 2005 support for its CDP software product.

TimeData Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is the latest version of the companys flagship product, first introduced last year. The product also is compatible with previous versions of Microsoft SQL Server, as well as Microsoft Exchange and NTFS (NT File System). TimeData CDPs main function is providing continuous data protection and allowing faster recovery from data loss and corruption, although users also use the product to help migrate data.

It was mainly the latter use of TimeData CDP that prompted the company to move so quickly to integrate the product with Microsoft SQL Server 2005, said Agnes Lamont, TimeSprings vice president of marketing.

"It helps people who are concurrently running live production on SQL Server 2000 to get SQL Server 2005 up and running," she said. "A lot of times, they end up having to de-migrate back because something didnt go quite right, and this gives them the ability to go in either direction. From what were hearing from our customers, its the ability to do this that was driving them to push us to make this available."

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The Newport Beach, Calif., companys aggressive support of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 follows a months-long program in which TimeSpring, a Microsoft Gold partner, worked with Microsoft and customers to test compatibility, Lamont said.

By being the first CDP player to add support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005, TimeSpring is positioning itself well to retain and gain customers, said Brian Babineau, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group of Milford, Mass. Other CDP vendors eventually will add similar support, but being a pioneer in an emerging market is an important differentiator, he said.

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"As customers begin planning migrations to the newest version of SQL, they can do so confidently by protecting each transaction with TimeSprings solution," he said.

In keeping with the companys mission of following customer requests, TimeSpring also has added several other features and functions over the past year, and Lamont said the company will continue to add functionality and compatibility as requested.

"There have been more requests to have the product work in more stressful environments like clustered environments, so weve added that, as well as adding remote repositories, enhanced search capabilities for easier use in the Exchange environment, and the ability to retrieve directly without having to build a recovery server," she said. "Our focus has been not to rule the world and get this in everywhere, but to create a core of customers with whom we can partner, particularly in the SQL community, to understand what they are doing and their challenges so we can be responsive."

Although the company has not been forthcoming about its future plans, Babineau said that along those lines, he wouldnt be surprised to see TimeSpring expand into other platforms like Linux and Unix or add additional applications like Oracle, Sybase and DB2.

"The Windows market is a big enough opportunity to keep them busy for a while," he said.

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