VERITAS Softwarethis week continued its sweeping integration of the technology assets of Precise Software with the release of software designed to manage the storage resources of Microsoft Windows systems more easily.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based vendor moved to acquire storage resource management provider Precise last December, along with server provisioning company Jareva Technologies, as part of its plan to morph into a utility computing provider.
Since that time, the company has been busy integrating software from those companies into its own product line, often retooling them and offering them side-by-side with its homegrown products.
The newly released StorageCentral 5.2 contains quota and file management capabilities to support Windows Server 2003 and the new Windows Storage Server 2003. It aims to free up disk space by making sure that only business-oriented files are being stored on corporate networks.
Marty Ward, director of product marketing at VERITAS, discussed the allure of StorageCentral 5.2 with internetnews.com. For example, he reported that some research firms have conducted studies in which employees have admitted to downloading MP3s, or even pornographic files, at work. StorageCentral 5.2 automatically weeds out those non work-related files so that a systems administrator doesn’t have to. StorageCentral uses quota management and file blocking to do this for Windows platforms, and also boosts server availability.
Quota management sets file limits for a user, sending them alerts when the user is about to run out of storage. A more proactive file-blocking feature screens files before they come into the e-mail client, and features an attachment prevention mechanism that can stop a virus before it has the opportunity to deliver a harmful payload. StorageCentral also boasts reporting capabilities that give users the skinny on what kind of files they have, Ward said.
Ward added that there’s a light edition available for Windows Storage Server 2003 that has basic quota management and file blocking, but lacks reporting features. Moreover, StorageCentral now offers user-based quota management for Network Appliance filer products, granting an extra level of granularity.
Microsoft has enjoyed a great deal of buzz about its new Windows Storage Server 2003 since its launch last month, which included endorsements from several top-tier systems vendors, including EMC, HP, and of course, VERITAS. Microsoft software is the market leader in providing software for network-attached storage (NAS) systems.
In order to make utility computing possible via SRM software, VERITAS also offers SANPoint Control, which enables policy-driven management of the storage infrastructure and Storage Reporter, which provides analysis of storage usage across heterogeneous enterprise environments and helps projects future storage needs.
VERITAS also announced an expanded reseller program to enable commercial distribution of StorageCentral software. StorageCentral 5.2 is available immediately, starting at $1,395 per server.
Story courtesy of Internet News.
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