IBM Follows Through on Data Protection for SMBs

Just three months since it acquired continuous data protection (CDP) startup FilesX, IBM has rebranded its solution as IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) FastBack and today began pushing its own version to market.

CDP, also known as continuous backup, has been growing in importance as a way for companies to better ensure their files are safeguarded. The process automates file backups each time a change is made, enabling offices to not only restore lost files, but also to reconstruct files as they appeared at any point in the past.

In particular, such offerings are lower-cost offerings aimed at helping small business support (SMBs) and remote locations -- which typically lack dedicated IT staff -- deal with mounting storage concerns.

"There is more data being distributed and companies want consistent data protection strategies," John Connor, product manager for TSM FastBack, told InternetNews.com.

Big Blue said the ease of managing FastBack's disk-based, block-level storage approach makes it suitable for small and remote offices that have little tech support.

"This eliminates issues with backup windows and provides near-instant recovery," Connor said.

FastBack, which IBM acquired earlier this year, also represents a second try on the technology, Lauren Whitehouse, an analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, told InternetNews.com.

IBM initially had attempted to tweak its TSM top-end product to create a data protection tool tailored for small to midsized firms, called TSM Express. But it wasn't a perfect approach, Whitehouse said.

"They scaled down the comprehensive offering but the TSM Express really didn't meet the need as it was still hefty to manage," she added. Instead, the new FastBack offering "is the next generation of that approach."

Still, for Big Blue, being able to swiftly integrate the product and assimilate it into its sales channel shows its proficiency at technology mergers, Whitehouse said.

"They have the formula for taking in technology they acquire and getting it rolled out in an impressive time frame," she added.

The new offering serves to build on IBM's storage flagship, the venerable Tivoli Storage Manager. IBM also said the new FastBack offering, which has been melded into TSM, complements its CDP software for laptops and desktops, IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files.

Along with FastBack, IBM also introduced FastBack for Microsoft Exchange server and FastBack for Bare Machine Recovery, designed for system and server migrations. Together, the bundled components are sold as TSM FastBack Center.

While the suite is currently offered only for Windows platform, IBM has plans to develop additional versions, it said.

Source:internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3762211/IBM+Follows+Through+on+Data+Protection+for+SMBs.htm

Exchange Topology Discovery in Exchange 2003

To enable Exchange Topology Discovery, we must first enable Agent Proxy and then configure overrides.
1. Enable Agent Proxy configuration on all managed Exchange servers. In the Administration pane, under Administration, Device Management, Agent Managed, right-click on each Exchange server, select Properties, then the Security and check the box Allow this agent to act as a proxy and discover managed objects on other computers. This step will also make exchange cluster instances to appear in the Agentless Managed section.

2.In the Authoring pane of the Operations Console, click Object Discoveries. In the Object Discoveries pane, right-click Exchange 2003 Topology Discovery, point to Overrides, point to Override the Object Discovery, and then click For a specific object of type: Exchange 2003 Role . Select the desired server running Exchange Server 2003 from Matching objects (do it for both), and then click OK . In the Override Properties dialog box, select Override for the Enabled parameter, and then select True from the Override Setting drop-down list. Select the Management Pack to save the override in, and then click OK.
The previous procedures will enable topology view of your Exchange Organization.
More on Microsoft Exchange Server Support>>
Microsoft release Exchange Servers
Exchange Server 2003
Exchange server support

Microsoft release Exchange Servers

As mentioned above, that data from a Microsoft Exchange server to your computer. This means instead of you having to manually press a button to poll the server and ask for changes, or set up a scheduled polling as soon as something changes on the server, it automatically sends the update out.

Every device being handled by a single central Network Operations Center (NOC), devices can connect to any Windows Server running Exchange (typically your business’ Exchange Server).

Microsoft's prices have always been geared to be affordable for the masses. And when entering a new market, it seems to always start low-ball. Microsoft today finally revealed how it will price online services, including Exchange and SharePoint, and how it will share revenue with partners. The company used its annual Worldwide Partner Conference to detail two bundles of services, one that targets workers who spend little time with a PC and one tailored for "information workers" that includes collaboration tools, portals, instant messaging/presence and Web conferencing. When doing the math for Microsoft's new services bundles, has it continued with the affordable theme? The jury is out.

An "information worker" bundle will be priced at $15 per month (and includes hosted versions of Exchange and SharePoint services with the not-yet-popular Office Communications Server and Live Meeting). Given that the average enterprise refreshes its desktops and software every three to five years, this equates to $540 per user for a three-year cycle. Will that save you money over the per-seat licenses you pay for now for Exchange?

If desktop support really does go away because users are getting the service from the cloud (but come on, how likely is that?), then this is probably a bargain. Hardware costs are killed -- that's true -- but they are relatively cheap these days and network costs could rise. High-volume deals can certainly do better than $15 per seat, too.

The entry-level services fee at $3 per user, per month, seems more in line, but the limited service may not fit the average enterprise. And of course, Microsoft's channel gets hosed when an online service is only $36 per user, per year, and includes no hardware. At 12% for the first contract and only 6% in years after, it takes an awful lot of users to make a living selling the Microsoft cloud. Microsoft resellers tend to service the small business, not the enterprise, so it's hard to see how they will benefit from this pricing scheme, except if they can tack on additional server service fees to the sales. In that case, buyers beware.

Even so, a much bigger concern for all users will be data portability. How will Microsoft "lock in" its customers once they move to the cloud? Will it hold customer data for ransom, or will a customer be able to grab its data and switch vendors anytime it wants to?

Exchange Server 2003

Exchange Server 2003 (v6.5) debuted on September 28, 2003. Exchange Server 2003 (currently at Service Pack 2) can be run on Windows 2000 Server (only if Service Pack 4 is first installed) and 32-bit Windows Server 2003, although some new features only work with the latter. Like Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003 has many compatibility modes to allow users to slowly migrate to the new system. This is useful in large companies with distributed Exchange Server environments who cannot afford the downtime and expense that comes with a complete migration.
One of the new features in Exchange Server 2003 is enhanced disaster recovery which allows administrators to bring the server online quicker. This is done by allowing the server to send and receive mail while the message stores are being recovered from backup. Some features previously available in the Microsoft Mobile Information Server 2001/2002 products have been added to the core Exchange Server product, like Outlook Mobile Access and server-side ActiveSync, while the Mobile Information Server product itself has been dropped. Better anti-virus and anti-spam protection have also been added, both by providing built-in APIs that facilitate filtering software and built-in support for the basic methods of originating IP address, SPF ("Sender ID"), and DNSBL filtering which were standard on other open source and *nix-based mail servers. Also new is the ability to drop inbound e-mail before being fully processed, thus preventing delays in the message routing system. There are also improved message and mailbox management tools, which allow administrators to execute common chores more quickly. Others, such as Instant Messaging and Exchange Conferencing Server have been extracted completely in order to form separate products. Microsoft now appears to be positioning a combination of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, Live Meeting and SharePoint as its collaboration software of choice. Exchange Server is now to be simply e-mail and calendaring.
Source:wikipedia.org

Exchange server support

As Windows Server 2008 adoption becomes more widespread many of my clients are asking me about the Windows Server Backup tool and the differences between it and old school NT Backup. The most obvious is that it's a simple backup tool and not at all application aware. In other words when you set it to backup an Exchange server it won't know to truncate logs or create a restorable backup of an Exchange database. According to a recent post by the Microsoft Exchange team this is by design.

Right after we shipped Service Pack 1, we started hearing from customers who were upset with the fact that they cannot take Exchange-aware online backups with Windows Server Backup. These customers had enjoyed the integration of Exchange and Windows Backup (NT Backup) for many years, and for many versions of Exchange and Windows. We also saw quite a but of discussion activity on this issue in various Exchange communities (this blog, internal discussion groups, MVP and MCT communities, etc.).

They also added they are planning to release a VSS-based plug-in for Server Backup that will be Exchange aware. Al thought most enterprises choose a more robust backup solution like Microsoft DPM or Veritas/Symantec, many SMB customers are used to the local NTBackup paradigm and see no reason to change. I think this move by MSFT is a smart one and I applaud their effort to respond quickly to a perceived deficiency in their flagship Server product.