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Aiming to capture the largest share possible of the fast-growing 64-bit world, BakBone Software has announced support for Apples new Tiger operating system.
Tiger, the newest version of Mac OS X, offers a host of new features, including expanded support for 64-bit computing, faster searches, automation of repetitive tasks, high-definition video and desktop search capability.
BakBone will offer 64-bit support for Tiger via its NetVault software, an enterprise-level backup and recovery solution that also supports a host of other operating systems, including previous versions of the Mac OS, Linux, Windows, Tru64, Solaris, AIX and HP/UX.
Tiger is a 64-bit operating system that gives users the ability to run very high-performance, data-intensive applications, such as the Digital Pro market, where film, video and audio customers are backing up petabytes of data every week.
Such users have a particularly strong need for reliable backup, said Meaghan Kelly, senior director of OEM alliances at BakBone Software Inc. of San Diego.
Tiger also plays in the midmarket—namely the SMB (small and midsized business) and education markets, which are slowly shifting from 32-bit to 64-bit computing.
To address both of these market segments, NetVault for the Tiger operating system can support both 32- and 64-bit applications side by side.
“Most environments today are heterogeneous in terms of operating systems, applications and different processing speeds, so being able to back up both 64- and 32-bit applications is important,” Kelly said. “If you can only back up part, youre missing a chunk of the enterprise.”
Until fairly recently, BakBone staked its claim on full, kernel-level support for Linux. By being first to market with a backup solution for Tiger, the company is doing its best to create another area of expertise that puts it ahead of the competition, said Pete Gerr, a senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group of Milford, Mass.
“They are applying the same discipline they applied to Linux to their push into the Mac space,” he said. “Having a high-performance, 64-bit backup solution native Mac client that is completely integrated with the new Tiger OS gives BakBone another interesting and unique advantage over some of the other vendors they compete against, like CommVault, Veritas, EMC Legato and Tivoli Storage Manager.”
Overall, its a shrewd move on BakBones part, Gerr said.
“As Apple grows in relevance to the data protection market and the storage market in general, BakBone can align with Apple and position itself as a more integrated, high-performance and mature solution than others out there,” he said.
Kelly said BakBone intends to keep up with the Mac OS X market and plans to announce several partnerships and technologies that integrate into the Mac OS X operating system. One upcoming announcement, she said, involves a partnership with Exabyte that will result in integrated, certified product bundles that work with the Mac OS X. Others will follow, she said.