San Diego, Calif.-based backup/disaster recovery appliance maker Arkeia Software on May 2 released a simple upgrade to provide what it calls “source-side Progressive Deduplication” for all the appliances it has shipped since July 2007. Firmware retrofit, here we come!
The upgrade adds the new features in Arkeia Network Backup Version 9.0 — including two-phase backups for shorter backup windows, agent-side AES-256 encryption for maximum security, and enhancements to the Web user interface for improved ease-of-use.
Arkeia’s so-called Source-side Deduplication (yes, it’s patented) compresses backup data on the client machine before the backup set is moved across the LAN or SAN. Arkeia contends that its deduplication improves the entire system because each unique block is stored only once, whether one or all clients use that block. Duplicate blocks, begone!
By reducing the overall volume of stored data by a large percentage, Arkeia claims this appliance firmware update will enable an extension of life of current appliances used for backup-to-disk.
Who doesn’t want a longer life? Even machines, as smart or as dumb as they might be, are also into this.
Long live storage devices!
