Buffalo Partners with NovaStor on Data Storage

NAS storage specialist Buffalo Technology links up with NovaStor to provide cost-conscious businesses with backup software solutions.

Buffalo Technology, a manufacturer of wired and wireless networking and network and direct attached storage solutions, announced a partnership with data protection and backup software manufacturer NovaStor. The alliance will bundle the company's NovaBackup data protection software with the entire portfolio of Buffalo's network attached storage solutions. NovaBackup will be offered on all TeraStation and LinkStation network storage solutions beginning in May.

Buffalo's TeraStation family of business class NAS solutions will feature multiple licenses of NovaBackup Business Essentials software. Business Essentials provides an all-in-one data protection solution for SMBs (small and medium-size businesses) that require protection for their digital assets. Features include backup support for Microsoft Windows Server operating systems, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server backup agents as well as Open File Manager Agent and Bare Metal Restore.

"Data protection is extremely important and providing first-class, cost-effective backup solutions has always been a top priority for Buffalo," said Ralph Spagnola, vice president of sales at Buffalo. "This strategic partnership with NovaStor not only strengthens our product portfolio, but it strengthens our commitment to delivering useful, all-in-one solutions that exceed our customers' expectations."

The LinkStation family of consumer NAS solutions will be bundled with several licenses of NovaBackup Professional, a user-friendly backup solution that automatically backs up a user's personal documents along with photos, music and important e-mail files. NovaStor managing director Mike Andrews called the announcement a great strategic partnership. "When home or business customers purchase a NAS solution from Buffalo and get a program like NovaBackup Professional or NovaBackup Business Essentials, they are truly getting a complete data storage and protection solution," he said.

NovaBackup works with Microsoft's Volume Copy Shadow Service (also known as VSS) in order to back up open files. The Open File Backup option is limited to operating systems that support Microsoft's VSS, including Microsoft Windows XP, Vista (32 bit) and Windows 2003 systems, the company noted. Other features include status reports of backup, copy or mirror jobs via e-mail, a backup file list that gives users the flexibility to restore all files or select files (users can restore files with the option to overwrite existing files or restore to an alternate location), the option to use FTP or Internet storage accounts with online storage services integration and disk imaging disaster recovery.

Earlier this month Buffalo announced a partnership with NewMedia-NET to deliver DD-WRT based software as a standard configuration across Buffalo's array of high power routers and access points. D-WRT is a Linux-based alternative open source firmware for wireless routers. With DD-WRT, Buffalo's lineup of high power routers will support features like VPN (PPTP, OpenVPN), VLAN (tagging), Virtual AP (multi-SSIDs for multi-connection and security), RADIUS server, hot spot support, volume quotas, iPv6 support and detailed monitoring.