Firestreamer Adds Blu-ray Support to Microsoft Backup
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Cristalink Limited is proud to announce the release of Firestreamer-RM
2.3, a virtual tape drive that extends the functionality of Microsoft
Backup and other tape backup software to a wide range of storage
media. Supported media include Blu-ray, DVD, Iomega REV, external
hard disk drives and files on network file systems. In addition to
support for non-tape media, Firestreamer provides a number of advanced
features, such as data compression and encryption, media and drive
spanning, easy scheduled backups with email notifications, support
for remote drives, integration with Microsoft Windows Automated System
Recovery and more.
Auckland, New Zealand -- September 18, 2006 -- Cristalink Limited
recently released Firestreamer-RM 2.3, a utility that extends the
functionality of Microsoft Backup and other tape backup software
to a wide range of non-tape storage media. Since it's a virtual tape
drive, Firestreamer can use Blu-ray, DVD, Iomega REV, external hard
disk drives and files on network file systems as underlying storage,
exposing the pieces of media as virtual tape cartridges. Firestreamer's
key advantage is that it retains the inherent benefits of using Microsoft's
native backup software, while providing a number of advanced features.
The new version of Firestreamer adds support for Blu-ray and file
media. Blu-ray (BD) is a next-generation optical storage format,
permitting 25 to 50 GB of uncompressed data on each disc. Due to
its versatility, integrated hardware defect management and ability
to sustain thousands of overwrite cycles without performance degradation,
BD media is a compelling alternative to tapes of comparable capacities.
Firestreamer makes this alternative even more attractive by utilizing
the strengths of existing tape backup software, facilitating the
transition from aging tape drives to Blu-ray.
Firestreamer transfers data directly to backup media with no intermediate
file system or burning engine involved. This means faster backups
compared to traditional packet writing solutions for recordable optical
media. Moreover, Firestreamer does not usually need the software
that may come with media drives, and recognizes most of the devices,
including Blu-ray and Iomega REV, immediately after the hardware
is connected to the computer. This is especially important for mission-critical
servers, where software reliability is crucial.
In addition to physical media, Firestreamer now supports files as
backup destinations. This feature is intended primarily for use with
network file systems, such as network shares, network-attached storage
(NAS) or WebDAV. Firestreamer's file media is an analog of Microsoft
Backup's BKF files, but with added data compression and encryption.
These features are particularly useful when the backups are regularly
taken to an offsite location or uploaded to a remote online storage
server hosted by another company. Firestreamer uses the Advanced
Encryption Standard (FIPS 197), which can protect classified information
up to the Top Secret level.
It's in the scheduling of unattended backup tasks where Firestreamer
really shines. Firestreamer "wraps" Microsoft Backup, starting it
up and monitoring its performance, automatically formatting media
when necessary. The flexible media management policy means the program
can overwrite or append to a particular piece of media, depending
on the media's age and amount of free space available. Once Microsoft
Backup finishes, Firestreamer parses its log file to ensure the backup
task succeeded, and notifies the administrator of the results in
an email. The software also provides users with a detailed summary
report that displays the status of recent backup tasks, along with
handy links to log files.
The new version of Firestreamer allows multi-step backups by introducing
support for user-defined scripts. For example, systems analysts can
imagine the following scenario: a prologue script executed at the
beginning of a scheduled backup task can be used to save a database
residing on a Microsoft SQL Server to a file. Microsoft Backup then
backs up the saved database along with other user data to Firestreamer's
file media - a compressed and encrypted file. Finally, the epilogue
script can upload the resulting file to offsite online storage via
FTP or another communication protocol.
Other features of Firestreamer include: support for remote iSCSI
media drives, media spanning to spread large backups across multiple
pieces of media, and drive spanning to eliminate the need for manual
media changes. Firestreamer is fully compatible with Microsoft Windows
Automated System Recovery (ASR) and allows a bare metal restore in
the event of a catastrophic system or hardware failure which causes
the operating system to not start correctly.
Firestreamer operates on all 32 and 64 bit editions of Microsoft
Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003, and is compatible with Microsoft
SQL Server, Exchange Server and Small Business Server. Firestreamer
can also be used with Symantec Backup Exec.
Firestreamer costs only $60 USD per single-computer license and can
be ordered securely online. A fully functional version of the software
is available for download for a free 30-day trial from Cristalink's
website at http://www.cristalink.com.
Cristalink is a trademark and Firestreamer is a registered trademark
of Cristalink Limited, New Zealand. All other trademarks are property
of their respective owners.
About Cristalink Limited:
Founded in 2002 in Auckland, New Zealand, Cristalink Limited specializes
in application and device driver development for Microsoft Windows.
For additional information and free evaluation copies of all Cristalink
products, visit Cristalink's website at http://www.cristalink.com.
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