Linux Users To Get More Options For Storage Management And High AvailabilityLinux Users To Get More Options For Storage Management And High Availability

Novell and Veritas Software Corp. stepped up their partnership Tuesday to deliver storage-management and high-availability software to companies that are expanding their use of Linux. Specifically, Veritas plans to make version 4.1 of its Storage Foundation High Availability software available to customers of Novell's SuSE Linux Enterprise 9 in September.

The significance of this partnership, which began in 2003, is to deliver to Linux users some of the key management capabilities that have been available to Unix users for decades. Foundation HA 4.1 features integrated cluster server, volume manager, and file system software for Unix or Linux environments.

Novell's previous attempts at file and storage management have been specific to its NetWare network operating system. Veritas' software broadens Novell's appeal beyond its File System Factory, a policy-based storage-management application for the NetWare file system.

By accommodating Linux environments, Veritas is furthering its goal of addressing the small- and medium-business market. The company, which is merging with security software maker Symantec Corp., in January introduced Backup Exec Suite, an integrated group of Windows backup, replication, and storage-management applications for small and midsize businesses, or those with fewer than 1,000 employees and 100 servers.