One of the toughest aspects of being a storage administrator is finding reliable information that one can use to make decisions about competitive storage hardware or software products, especially when it comes to making decisions about newer technologies like Single Instance Storage (SIS). Even when data does become available, it is often too generic or not applicable to their situation so the individual is left in the position of either trusting the vendor's literature or doing some level of testing. In the case of Blessing Hospital's Technical Support Analyst II, Doug Barry, he opted for the latter. (read more)

The evolving nature of today's corporate legal landscape is creating sets of problems that companies never envisioned when they put data protection software in place years ago. Electronic data discoveries, ad hoc searches, legal holds and establishing chains of custody are now all part of today's corporate requirements that are pushing the capabilities of their existing data protection software to the limit. Those companies using CommVault Systems' Simpana® Software Suite are better positioned than most to address these needs. (read more)

Ms. DeNovio tells me that it is not uncommon for enterprise companies to have one or more Oracle DBAs dedicated to creating and managing RMAN scripts. Part of the reason this turns into a time consuming task is that as Oracle releases new versions of its database, the RMAN scripts need to be modified to include the new and improved RMAN features. (read more)

CommVault took an important step in differentiating how CommVault Simpana protects Oracle databases from other backup and software products. Though the Simpana suite also supports multiplexing, the underlying Simpana architecture works more efficiently to handle data and avoid the need to multiplex at all - and still keep the tape devices spinning as fast as possible. (read more)

Randy: We learned that CommVault hit a strategic area for Microsoft back in 1998 - heterogeneous data management. Simply put, Microsoft didn't like UNIX managing its data. Making matters exponentially easier was the fact that I worked for years with a key decision maker and visionary at Microsoft in charge of all Windows products, Jim Allchin. We sat down, discussed where CommVault could go, what Microsoft could benefit from and, a few months later, Microsoft became a significant equity investor in CommVault. (read more)

Randy: I hope the first thing that customers will appreciate is that CommVault® Systems and Microsoft are speaking the same language, one that enhances and embraces the Microsoft operating system and applications. After that, I hope they realize our development teams are in close communication which is a key reason why CommVault is so often a launch partner for major Microsoft releases - like Windows 2000, Server 2003, Server 2008, 64-bit computing, Exchange 2000, 2003 and Exchange Server 2007, SharePoint, and so forth. We get involved with their early adopters and often it is their early adopters who give us suggestions for our solutions. (read more)

Randy: Microsoft introduced and endorsed the CommVault/Sun partnership for the key reasons they chose to partner with CommVault back in 1999. CommVault utilizes Windows and other Microsoft technologies as the platform to provide heterogeneous data management with key granular management of Exchange and SharePoint. CommVault learned many years ago how critical it was to offer granularity for the recovery and management of items like Exchange messages, SharePoint items and Active Directory objects/attributes. We used that early granular management foundation as a base for enabling today's content specific search capability. (read more)

The list of enterprise data management software that can be sold to work with any type of storage hardware is very short. Yes, Symantec is on the list but many channel organizations report dissatisfaction with their overall relationship with Symantec: it's a reputation that persists regardless of whether or not it is deserved. So while resellers and users may wish they could stay with Symantec, they crave a new choice in data management software that is built around a suite of products rather than a portfolio of point products. In this software void CommVault's Simpana® software suite has emerged as a viable option. (read more)