Symantec Upgrades Backup Exec and System RecoverySymantec Upgrades Backup Exec and System Recovery

Symantec today announced the release of Backup Exec 12.5 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8.5, which include comprehensive recovery of virtual as well as physical servers, from individual files to complete systems. The products are aimed at companies with from 25 to several hundred servers.When I talked to Monica Girolami, senior product marketing manager at Symantec, and Mike Inkrott, Symantec senior product manager for backup exec, they discussed the new products and also how they expected Microsoft Hyper V to make a big impact on small and midsize companies in 2009. Companies are evaluating it now, they said, but given its low cost, they expect widespread adoption next year.

As for the Symantec products, Girolami emphasized Backup Exec's new support for the complete Windows Server 2008 portfolio, including the upcoming November releases of Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008. Girolami also touted the new releases' enhanced management capabilities and platform scalability, keys for dealing with heterogenous environments in growing companies.

Most important, though, the new releases reduce management complexity by letting users rely on a single agent to manage each host environment, including an unlimited number of virtual guest machines. That means a single backup process, through a single console, to protect all the virtual and physical servers. Girolami explains that means no more need to install and manage backup for each virtual server.

Inkrott says this kind of end-to-end simplicity means that you can use one console to drill down to each "guest" machine on the server and even pull out individual folders and files.

Finally, Girolami promises that all these technologies can integrate with Symantec online storage, right from the console.

System Backup Recovery 8.5, meanwhile, works with Citrix, VMware, and Microsoft virtualization techonology to let admins easily perform physical to virtual conversions and always have the virtualized backup files ready and waiting when needed.

Both new products will be available October 6. Pricing for Backup Exec 12.5 starts at $995 for a media server license. Backup Exec System Recovery is priced at $1,095 per server and $69 per workstation.