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NetX Inc.s flexsafe provides plug-and-play client-side backup capabilities in an easy-to-implement appliance. Given that a large amount of valuable company data is stored on laptops and desktops (much to IT managements chagrin), the NetX FlexSafe appliance will be a welcome addition to many corporations.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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NetX FlexSafe backup appliance
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NetX FlexSafe backup appliance NetXs FlexSafe appliance is an easy-to-use, client-side backup solution thats geared toward workgroups and remote offices. Setup is fairly easy, and the interface allows clients to run backup and restore jobs on their own. The appliances pricing starts at a competitive $3,599, with licenses for 10 users. Additional clients cost $59 per node, and volume discounts are available. More information is available at www.netxinc.com. |
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EVALUATION SHORT LIST |
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The NetX FlexSafe appliance runs Altiris Inc.s Client Recovery Solution 5.7 backup software on Toshiba America Information Systems Inc.s Magnia Z310 server hardware platform.
The NetX FlexSafe is priced starting at $3,599, which includes licenses for 10 users. Additional clients cost $59 per node, with volume discounts available.
During tests, eWEEK Labs was able to easily set up the NetX FlexSafe appliance. More important, however, the client-side interface was clean and easy to learn. The interface can be downloaded from the appliance, or IT managers can use the NetX FlexSafe administration console to push out the software to client machines.
The NetX FlexSafe, which shipped in July, is a disk-based backup system. The initial backup—which copies the registry, operating systems, applications and data to the NetX FlexSafe appliance—can be tedious (especially at companies that have a lot of data to back up). After that, however, incremental snapshots—which send only new files and changed portions of older files—are quick.
Using the management tools, users can take snapshots on demand. In addition, IT managers have the ability to schedule automated snapshots to be taken at specified intervals.
Using the client-side management utility, we could easily see all our past snapshots in the recovery interface and could quickly grab and restore directories and files.
One annoying quirk of the interface is that each file or directory must be restored individually. We would have liked to select multiple objects to restore before starting a job.
New in this version of Altiris Client Recovery Solution software is the ability to store backups to hidden partitions on the local machine. This will be useful for users who work remotely and cant get a high-speed-access connection to a NetX FlexSafe appliance. Although a local backup will do users no good in the event of a hard drive crash, it can be extremely invaluable in the event that data is corrupted because they can roll back their machines to a viable state.
The NetX FlexSafe has nowhere near the functionality of Connected Corp.s Connected DataProtector 7.0, which is designed to serve hundreds or even thousands of users, but the NetX FlexSafe makes sense for small workgroups and remote offices.
The Magnia Z310 system is relatively small and quiet. Wireless networking (802.11b) support is included, which should make it easy to back up wireless laptops.
Support for Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Japanese and simplified Chinese is available, making this appliance attractive to multinational companies.
The NetX FlexSafe appliance lacks interoperability with Apple Computer Inc. and Unix clients, which would be a useful addition in future versions.
Senior Analyst Henry Baltazar can be reached at henry_baltazar@ziffdavis.com.