Desktop management provider Altiris Inc. advanced the backup and recovery tool it acquired with Previo Inc. with a new release of its Altiris Client Recovery Solution.
Version 5.1 of the tool, formerly called eSupport Essentials, adds a handful of ease-of-use features intended to limit the impact of backup and recovery functions on end users–including remote end users.
New in the release is a backup checkpoint recovery feature that automatically restarts an interrupted backup at the exact place the connection was lost. The feature works over dial-up and LAN links.
With the release, Altiris will become one of the first vendors to exploit Intel Corp.s Wake-on-LAN network adapter card technology, allowing administrators to schedule a backup snapshot during off-hours, even when a machine is powered off.
Although the Intel technology has been available for some time, few management tools providers have exploited it because of its inability to work across routers, according to Poul Nielsen, vice president of product strategy at Altiris, in Lindon, Utah.
“Weve developed technology that lets [Wake-on-LAN functionality] be forwarded,” he said.
Altiris is also working to tie the tool more closely to its other products. Toward that end, the company has already replaced the tools remote control function with its own Carbon Copy remote control program, and it has provided limited integration with the common console used by Altiris products.
As part of its integration plan, Altiris intends to replace the Microsoft Management Console base used in the tool with a fully Web-enabled console. That will happen in the next release of Altiris Client Recovery Solution, due in the second quarter of next year.
Also new in the tool is a silent snapshot feature, which eliminates the dialog window that appears on a users screen whenever a snapshot runs while a workstation is backed up. Altiris has added German and French versions of the tool as well.
Also as part of its integration plans, Alteris is working to enhance business continuity, as it creates a stream of desktop lifecycle management tasks. “Backup and recovery of desktops is one of the highest ROI components. With the trend going more and more toward mobile computing, we believe this technology is the right approach for solving that. As we tie in with migration, deployment and software delivery, thats going to greatly enhance business continuity,” said Nielsen.
The new release is due by months end. It is priced at $70 per node in quantities of 10 to 99 nodes.